


Home is Where the Heart is

by CSM



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Exes, F/M, Humour, Stillbirth, Sweet Home Alabama AU, mentions of stillbirth, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2018-07-26 19:40:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 38,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7587283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CSM/pseuds/CSM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. This fic is loosely based on the movie Sweet Home Alabama. Puppy love is for fairytales and storybooks, they don't exist in the real world and all Oliver wants is for her to sign on the dotted line, a clear cut divorce. But being married to the most stubborn woman in the world and their equally opinionated mothers, Oliver knows this trip back home is going to be anything but easy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a new fic I've been working on. I've hit a rut with by two other fics and hoping working on this one will inspire my muse. This fic is loosely based on Sweet Home Alabama but with a twist and I hope you enjoy it 
> 
> If some of you have read my last AU Rumour Has It, you know I love bringing in characters from the Flarrow universe so expect some familiar faces along the way with a little twist.
> 
> I thought I could be one of those authors that can write a full fic then post, but I realized that reviews really motivate me to write and I hope you'll let me know what you think :)

**_Winter 2002_ **

He’s standing at the centre counter, his sleeves rolled up as he begins to chop the mushrooms into small dices. His tongue just barely sticks out, his entire focus on the large mushrooms in front of him. His blonde hair falls flat on his forehead just barely skipping over his eye and he blows lightly to get it out of the way, never flattering from his current job.

“I don’t see why we can’t just have pop tarts,“ a small voice whines petulantly, “we can even have the blueberry ones and have some _fruit_ for breakfast.”

“That’s not fruit.” Oliver Queen laughs, turning to his right and sure enough his best friend is grinning at him cheekily.

It’s an early Saturday morning and Oliver promised his mother that he’ll get breakfast for both him and Felicity. His mother had already left for her early shift, leaving the two teens to fend for themselves, something both children have been used to since they were 10. This is however the first time Oliver wants to make something for Felicity, he’s been practicing for the past 3 weeks to perfect his omelettes knowing it’s her favorite.  

Felicity Smoak’s dark brown locks are braided in pigtails, her large black frame glasses sliding down the tip of her nose, she still hasn’t grown into the used frames. She unlike Oliver doesn’t need the small stepping stool to reach over the counter so instead she has her elbows pressed onto the counter surveying all the ingredients in front of them. The freckles splattering her nose is more prominent under the yellow light of the kitchen and Oliver can’t help but notice how cute she looks. Oliver cheeks redden when he mind wanders, he’s been noticing little things about his best friend a lot lately. Felicity has been his best friend for half his life, he should not be thinking about how _pretty_ she is.

She’s just Felicity.

“Why can’t you just make scramble eggs, then?” Felicity whines in annoyance.

Oliver knows that’s it’s due to hunger more than anything so he doesn’t take it personally. When she woke up and found him in the kitchen, he knew he had caught her curiosity and for the first few minutes she played well with being his su chef, helping get some of the ingredients and grating the cheese, but now that her hunger has stepped in, she’s just _cranky_.  

“That’s boring.” Oliver replies, “Besides, you like omelettes.”

“You’re taking so _long_.”

“You’re just impatient.” Oliver retorts, he rolls his eyes when Felicity starts munching on some of the grated cheese, “Stop eating the cheese, Felicity!”

“Hurry up and cook then!” Felicity huffs her shoulders shaking with impatience . She circles the counter again looking at him expectantly her blue eyes wide and pleading with him.

“I wanted to teach you how to make the omelette.” Oliver can’t help release his own whine and his ears redden in embarrassment but Felicity only sighs dramatically as she sinks down onto her open palm and looks at him with a forlorn expression.

“Oliver, I’m _hungry_.”

“I thought you said you wanted to learn how to cook for yourself, after you got sick off of the egg rolls from Mrs. Lu?” Oliver points out.

He turns on the stove and sprays the pan all the while gathering his bowls of ingredients and Felicity easily reaches some of the bowls for him that he can’t get from his stepping stool. She giggles at him but doesn’t comment, a sure sign of how hungry she really is.

“Why would I need to cook when I have you?” She says it so offhandedly that Oliver looks across her in surprise and she has to pause from stealing some of the ham slices to figure out his expression. She then shrugs her shoulders and looks at him, her clear blue eyes wide and full of earnest, “You’ll always cook for me, right Oliver?”

Oliver grins widely and nods in agreement, he can’t imagine a point in his life where Felicity won’t be in it and as long as they are friends he’ll always cook for her. “Until we’re old and wrinkly and can only eat mash potatoes.”

“Ew.” Felicity giggles, “At least I’ll still be taller than you.”

There it is.

Growing up he and Felicity have always been the same height but a few months shy of Felicity’s 13th birthday she shot up and she’s now a head taller than Oliver and she never lets him forget it. Oliver’s mom told him that girls just get their growth spurts earlier than boys, but it doesn’t stop Felicity from teasing him mercilessly about it.

“You will not.” Oliver grumbles which only causes Felicity to giggle again.

He really loves hearing Felicity’s laugh.

“I’ll always love you, even if you’re a shrimp.” Felicity teases and Oliver gasps when she wraps her arms around his waist and pulls him into an unsuspected hug from behind.

Felicity seems none the wiser as she peers down at the simmering pot in front of them, her chin resting on his shoulder, but Oliver is _very_ aware of her, he’s feeling things he’s never felt before, both his body and the feel of _her_ body against his.

“Felicity,” Oliver’s voice cracks and he clears his throat, his cheeks pinking up, that’s been happening a lot lately especially around Felicity. “You’re gonna make me burn the eggs.”

“Some chef you are.” Felicity teases, but she slips out and moves to grab two plates for them to eat. “You’re gonna have to know how to multitask when you open your restaurant.”

“Somehow, I don’t think my su chef is gonna be holding onto me like a koala.” Oliver teases.

“That’s true, but just in case I’m preparing you for anything.” Felicity teases  sticking her tongue out at Oliver as they both giggle. “Now, can I make my famous hot chocolates?”

“Famous? Felicity all you do is warm the milk and add the mixture and some marshmallows.”

Felicity gasps her hand going to her chest dramatically, “I’ll have you know adding the correct amount of milk and marshmallow is a _science_.”

“Sure it’s not math? One in the cup and then two in your mouth?” Oliver teases and laughs when Felicity walks past him and shoves him lightly with her hip as she goes to get the two mugs.

The continue on in silence, Oliver finishing the last of the omelette while Felicity smuggles some marshmallows while making their hot chocolates. Oliver only shakes his head, but he knows that the extra bag of marshmallows in the cupboard are there for that very reason, Felicity loves the little snack too much.

He grins proudly when Felicity devours their breakfast, gushing about how good the food tastes, melted cheese dripping from her chin and they both giggle loudly as they eat. They are sitting at the foot of the couch, their sweats clad legs stretched out in front of them as they drink their hot chocolate, empty plates discarded at the side.

“I love winter.” Felicity hums contently hugging her hot chocolate to her chest, as she savours the warmth. She snuggles next to Oliver, her head resting on his shoulder, “I wish our winter break was as long as summer break.”

“Then we’ll never have time to swim in the lake.” Oliver points out just as he drains the last of his hot chocolate.

“Oh, I love school, but I love swimming in the lake more though.” Felicity says thoughtfully, “you’d have more time to teach me how to ice skate. I think I want to try this year.”

Oliver shakes his head, this is a usual winter arguement between the two, for as long as Oliver can remember Felicity has always refused to learn how to ice skate always preferring to _watch._  When they were 5, both their mothers signed then up to learn, but the moment Felicity stepped onto the ice she went sprawling across the ice, slamming her head against the barrier and earning herself 5 stitches. Suffice to say Felicity never went on the ice again, until a few years she claimed that 10 was for too old to go classes to learn, thus leaving the responsibility on Oliver to teach her.

Every year since then, she’s promised that he could teach her, but she’d always chicken out the moment they got to the lake.

Felicity sits up and turns to face Oliver, her legs curling over his so she can face him. Her cheeks are red from warm drink and she’s so close Oliver can practically count all her freckles on her nose. He looks down at her and grins when he sees she has a white moustache from her hot chocolate.

He raises his hand and brushes his thumb across her top lip, Felicity freezing in surprise, “Chocolate mustache.”

They are sitting so close that Oliver can feel Felicity’s hot breath against his skin. She had discarded her glasses earlier when they fogged up while she drank her drink and now Oliver can see her blue eyes wide and staring back at him, her lips slightly parted. Oliver’s eyes dart from her parted lips and then to her blue eyes and without really thinking about it he leans forward and presses his lips gently against hers.

Felicity’s entire body freezes in surprise and Oliver almost pulls back in horror at her lack of response, but then he feels the tension drain out of her body, only her fingers grip his t-shirt tightly and he breathes a sigh of relief when he feels the barest hint of pressure as she kisses him back.

The kiss finishes as soon as it started but Oliver feels as though he’s flying, his cheeks are red and he can see Felicity smiling at him shyly, her entire face pink. Oliver doesn’t know what to say, Felicity only giggles softly and leans into him again and presses her lips a little bit more forcibly against his.

“Ollie! Ollie! Ollie!” A high squeal pulls both teens back almost as though they were on fire and a small body come hurling towards them landing in Oliver’s lap.

Oliver groans as his three year old sister, Thea looks up at him with wide brown eyes, her short brown hair is a mess on top her head and he can see a long line across her face where she fell asleep, “Ollie! we have pizzas?”

Oliver laughs wholeheartedly and narrows his eyes at his best friend who is giggling behind her hand, her cheeks still pink from their kiss, “I told you we shouldn’t have had pizza last night.”

Felicity sticks her tongue out at him and the tightness in his chest eases when he realizes he has not completely ruined their friendship, she grabs Thea tossing the toddler with ease earning a loud giggle in return, “Don’t you want Ollie’s famous scramble eggs?”

“With ketchup?” Thea asks innocently looking back and forth between the two teens.

Oliver and Felicity exchange looks of disgust but nod nonetheless, “Of course.”

“ Liccy I wants a piggyback ride.” Thea demands already starting to crawl up Felicity body to get to her.

“Alright, you monkey.” Felicity says with a laugh  spinning around so Oliver can put Thea on her back, she turns around to face Oliver her cheeks pink, “Do you think...can we...if you want...can we do that again?”

Her words come out in a rush, but Oliver hears her quite clearly and he feels the heat rising up his chest and he nods his head vigorously, he’s almost afraid his ears might fall out at his eagerness, “Yea, I’ll like that.”

“Me too.”

* * *

 

**_Fifteen Years Later_ **

“Chef Dearden! Chef Dearden!”

Oliver Dearden silently growls as one of his new waiters runs behind him, he was hoping to pop into his office grab a few things and then pop out without being seen. He takes a deep breath and fingers the small box in hand slipping it into the pocket of his coat and spins around to face his waiter, “William, how can I help you?”

The waiter, a skinny 19 year old, looks at him nervously shifting from one foot to the other unable to meet Oliver’s eye, which is disconcerting to say the least if the kid needs to converse with customers daily. “William, you have to look people in the eye when you speak to them, customers aren’t going to feel comfortable with you if you can’t look at them.”

His words seem to register with the young man and William looks at him shyly, “Where are the dinner menus? Do we just switch out the lunch for the dinner at the end of the day?”

Oliver looks at him in confusion, “Didn’t Danny go over this with you?”

William looks alarmed at first but shakes his in the negative, “No there was an issue with one of the vendors and he had to sort that out.”

Oliver sighs once again his head waiter seems to be taking up the slack from his manager. Oliver suspect he’s going to have to have a talk with his manager at the end of the week, yet another issue to add to his already long to do list.

The top of the list seems to be currently burning a hole in the pocket of his coat. The ring box seems heavy in his pocket, heavier than it should be, like it’s weighing him down.

He bought the ring three weeks ago and left it in his office for safe measures. The only problem it's been three months and he’s yet to take any steps further to actually using the ring, thus he decided to take it out from his safety deposit box and take it back home so the constant reminder would hopefully fuel a fire under him to get a move on it.

He bought the ring on a cold dark winter day. He was strolling through the streets of Manhattan, contemplating his current life choices and why he felt like he was in a current runt while he had everything he’s always dreamed of, when he caught a couple standing under the falling snow in the midst of a life changing event. Caught up in the romance of it all Oliver found himself outside of jewelry store and before he knew it he was purchasing a small diamond encrusted ring. Instead of feeling elated he only felt foreboding.

That should have been the first hint that something was amiss.

There is a gnawing guilt that eats away at him, a constant reminder that before he even uses that ring there is something specific he needs to do, something he chose to ignore the past 7 years, but with the purchase of this ring he realized he’s finally beginning to take those steps to put the past behind him. If only he was able to complete his task with the efficiency in which he was able to purchase the ring. A ring that instead of finding a home on his girlfriend’s finger, it was nestled in the deep alcoves of his safety deposit box in his office. Hiding away like a dirty little secret and ironically resting nearly on top of 5 year old papers than have yet to see the light of day, not since the moment they arrived in his small 2x4 apartment deep in the Bronx.

Instead of listening to his instincts he chose to quell those thoughts and store the ring in his office until he was ready to put it to use.

It's been three months since then and Oliver has realized out of sight out of mind is not the best plan of action so he went on a limb and pulled the ring out of its hiding place. He can only hope that he’ll finally put it to good use.

They have been together for over three years and Oliver loves his girlfriend dearly but there is just something that's been keeping him back.

He walks into their east side two bedroom apartment, toeing off his shoes before he enters the foyer. After growing up in a small one storey house sharing with his mother and sister never in his life thought that he’d have a _foyer_ much less a spacious apartment that overlooks Central Park.

When he moved to New York City seven years ago he’d always dreamed he’d end up here. Yet somehow despite having a four star restaurant an amazing apartment and loving girlfriend he still feels as though something is missing.

“Babe, is that you?” The soft voice calls out pulling him away from his thoughts.

He stuffs the ring box into the front pocket of his jeans just as she walks into the living bare feet tapping against the wooden floor and already dressed for their run. A run he’s incidentally running late for.

“There you are! Did you find what you were looking for?” She asks with a smile.

Her long brown hair is tied up in one and swept to the side, her long tanned legs are encased in yoga pants the lack of jacket  showing she's ready for the early summer morning run.

“The forms were on my desk like I suspected.” Oliver says with an over exaggerated huff of annoyance the lie coming easily to him. He places a kiss on her forehead and makes a beeline for their bedroom, “I'll be out in a minute.”

He goes into the bedroom his hand automatically going to the box in his pocket. His grip tightens around soft material. The usually neat folded clothes on the lone chair is all but gone, instead there is a dress haphazardly across the worn leather and a light scarf just hanging by its frayed ends at the bottom of their bed. The sight is so foreign but familiar at the same time, he’s taken back to years ago where walking through his bedroom was like an obstacle course as he avoided scattered high heels, jumped over tangled computer cords and had to spend ages to find his side of the bed.

The scattered room has him so preoccupied he doesn't hear the footfalls approaching until a small hand snakes under his worn t-shirt making him jump. Oliver watches in horror as the small box slip from his finger and clatters to the wooden floor, the clinking of the diamond encrusted ring across the floor seems to echo around the still room. Oliver reacts almost immediately and clampers to the floor reaching for the box almost as though he can rewind the last few seconds and pretend it never happened.

He’s down on one knee now his hand curled around the now broken box, the flimsy hinge never standing a chance against the hardwood floor.  He has the small ring between his thumb and forefinger and finally takes the chance to look up at her. Her brown eyes are wide and full of surprise, but he see them begin to swell with tears.

His heart clenches at the image he makes, at the pure elation on her face and he knows there is no way out of this. He looks across at her warm eyes, and a sense of calm overtakes him like a warm breeze filtering in on a hot summer night.

He can do this.

He repeats the small martra in his head, but yet the words are stuck in his throat like a stubborn worn piece of gum under his shoe refuse to let go.

He can't do this, not now. She deserves better, something planned. Something memorable. Certainly, not when he has so many uncertainties swimming around in his mind.

He looks at her with uncertainty, but she only has eyes for the glistening piece of jewelry, dwarfed by his much larger hand. “McKenna…”

“Yes!” She squeals so loudly, so unlike her that he barely has time to brace himself when she tackles him to the floor, hot wet kisses trail against his heated skin.

Her entire body is thrumming with excitement Oliver can practically feel it through her skin as her arms snakes around his neck and th finally lock eyes. The glee on her face is contagious and Oliver is reminded why he decided to buy that ring in the first place and this time when he smiles it's real and full and he’s gotten to this point and he hold the ring up between them and looks at her expectantly.

McKenna nods her head vigorously and then tackles him, the fall back onto the floor their lips fused together.

It’s not until he’s slipped the ring on her finger and they are lying contently on the floor in a heap of limbs does he acknowledge that it's finally time for him to pull out those 5 year old papers and finally close the door to his past.

But first he has to explain to his _fiancé_ why he's visiting his hometown so suddenly and pointedly _not_ inviting her along.

 

* * *

 

Two days later he finds himself sitting in his rental car 10 minutes outside of the little town of Starling, fingers nervously curling and uncurling around the steering wheel.

When he told McKenna that he needed to head to Starling alone, her reaction was incredulous as he expected. She begged to come, to meet his mother and sister, but Oliver insisted that he had to do this on his own. After all it's been 7 years since he's been to Starling (well 5 if he counts his mother’s wedding, something he tries to forget) and while he has spoken to his mother at least twice a month it’s just not the same.

At least that was the story he told McKenna, and while it may be true it's only just the tip of the iceberg of what is waiting for him back in Starling.

With every mile he covers the weight on his chest gets heavier and many times he has to fight the urge to turn the car around and just pretend he never came.

The small little wooden box that sits in the passenger side rattles as the car rolls over the gravel road leading up to the large lake house. He can feel the cool wind against his face that family lake water smell overtaking his senses.

He’s home.

He grabs the small wooden box and the aged envelope and slides out the seat looking up at the large two storey house with a wrap around porch. His step falters as he's bombarded with memories, of late summer days building the porch filled with laughter and soft kisses and ending with warm swims in the lake only a few yards away.

But in the last few years those carefree days were few and far between and instead was filled with yelling and tears and so much anger.

Oliver looks down at the old wooden box, the childlike engraving with the words “Oliver and Felicity” making his blood boil. Resting in the box is torn up pieces of divorce papers but the sentiment is not laced with romance but just contempt and vengeance, the bright pink post it is still curled up resting on the torn up pages a massive ‘fuck you’ at best.

The latent anger begins to simmer again as he takes purposeful steps up the small flight of stairs.

He reaches the front door and knocks violently on the hardwood the rattling of the blinds almost drowning out the firm knocks.

“Felicity!” He bellows loudly

He knocks again this time more forcibly as he yells again, and his anger increases when he doesn't hear any movement he growls an angrily. A soft growl in response started him and he looks down just in time to see a small white furball come charging at him and before he can react two small teeth imbed itself into his ankle.

“Fuck!” Oliver yells in pain. He's just about to kick the furball when he recognizes the large floppy ears and realizes it's not a puppy as he suspected but a _rabbit._

A _demon_ rabbit at that. The rabbit bares its teeth again it's red eyes glaring at Oliver as he sinks his teeth into Oliver ankle once again. Oliver is just about to kick the furball loose when a high pitch scream halts his actions.

“Ollie, don't attack him!”

“The fucking thing is biting me!” Oliver snaps angrily trying to shake the rabbit off without causing too much damage.

“I'm not talking to _you.”_ she hisses as she scoops up the rabbit cuddling it to her chest and whispering soft words of reassurance to the small animal.

“You named your demon rabbit after _me?”_

“Well the resemblance _is_ uncanny.” Felicity replies cattily.

Now that Oliver no longer has the demons rabbit hanging off his foot he can finally take her in. Gone was the dark brown hair and replaced is golden locks that form soft curls around her face just tickling her bare shoulder blades. The large round framed glasses that she’s had since they were kids are now replaced with thin wired square frames that fit her face perfectly. But behind the hair and the glasses, Oliver can see the familiar freckles and the sparkling blue eyes he knows all too well.

Those sparkling blue eyes though hold a fire on them and are narrowed warningly at Oliver.

“What are you doing here?” Felicity asks coldly, her eyes linger on the small box in Oliver's hands and Oliver knows that she has an inkling as to why he's here.

“I came for a divorce.” Oliver says forcibly as he brandishes the large folder in her face.

“I thought the hot shot New Yorker would have people do that for him.” Felicity retorts making no effort to take the envelope from Oliver.

“The last time I had my lawyers send you the papers you turned them into potpourri and sent them back in a box, so I'm sorry if I didn't think mailing them would be the best use of my money.” Oliver all but growls shaking the box in front of Felicity face and she only grins smugly in return.

“I know how much you enjoy a good puzzle.” She says flippantly.

“I seem to recall you being the one that loved puzzles.”

His keen observation gives her pause, but her shoulders go rigid once again and her fingers gently caress the ears of _Ollie_ the rabbit. “I'm sorry to disappoint you - well actually I'm not at all that sorry - but once again you have wasted your money to buy a plane ticket to come here hoping for a different response. I'm not interested.”

With those final words she spins on her heels and enters the house slamming the door in his face.

“Felicity! Felicity! You can't ignore me forever.”

The adjacent window opens next to the door and Oliver can see the rabbit still calmly curled up in her arms, “I recall doing a fine job of it for the past 7 years.”

“Felicity, can we at least talk?” He pleads.

“Oliver, the time to talk was 7 years ago _before_ you took off to New York City. I am not interested.”

With those words she slams the window shut and pulls the curtain forcibly across, she has another thing coming if she thinks Oliver will just walk away silently.

He growls angrily in response, “if you won't talk to me why the fuck won't you just divorce me?”

“Last I checked I married Oliver Queen. When you find him, tell him to give me a call now kindly remove yourself from my property Mr. Dearden.”

“Last I checked this house was under _both_ our names.” Oliver snaps back just as angrily.

The curtain is pulled back yet again and Felicity's eyes are blazing as she glares at Oliver, “are you threatening to get me kicked out of my house?”

Oliver falters at her accusation, “of course not. Felicity, I just want you to sign the papers.”

“Not interested.”

Once again the curtains are pulled shut and Oliver is beginning to wonder if she will yank them right off the rods in her anger. “Why the fuck won't you sign the fucking papers?”

The curtains open again but this time Felicity smiling, her eyes gleaming at him evilly, “because you want it so much.”

  
With those final words she closes the curtains and Oliver can hear her footfalls as she walks away and he knows she has dismissed him, for now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the reviews I'm glad so many of you are giving this story a chance. I have the entire fic plotted out and im a few chapters ahead but I'm doing updates once a week or so.

“And did you explain to her why you needed the divorce?” Moira asks gently.

Oliver looks at her incredulously, the slice of key lime pie hovering in from to him threatening to fall of his fork in his distraction. He had just finished explaining his encounter with Felicity to his mother and he was hoping to garner some kind of reaction from maybe even incredulous anger to join  _ his.  _ But his mother is calm as she listens to his story not voicing her opinion but calmly inquires his actions once he’s finished.

Her lack of reaction annoys Oliver to say the least.

Despite Oliver’s distance from Starling, he and his mother have always been in contact. She may not understand his hesitancy to return to Starling but she respects it somewhat. It helps that he usually tries to bring her and Thea to NYC when he can. Except within the last two years, which coincidentally occurred when he started dating Mckenna, being the only time they haven't been to the city.

“Why I  _ need  _ it? Mom we haven't been together in five….I mean seven years.” Oliver blanches at his misstep and holds back a groan when his mother looks at him pointedly.

“So am I finally going to learn what really happened at my wedding?” Moira asks with a knowing smile.

“You mean other than you and Donna co-conspiring to force Felicity and I to go as each other's dates for your wedding? Knowing fully well we broke up two years  _ before _ that?” Oliver asks with his own pointed look and his mother doesn't even look guilty.

“No matter what rut the two of you are going through Felicity is like another daughter to me. Of course she was going to be in my wedding.” Moira says breezily brushing Oliver’s accusations with easy.

“Four bridesmaid and yet I still got conveniently paired up with her?” Oliver counters despite the fact that he knows it's futile they had this argument 5 years ago as well. 

He pointedly ignores the fact that she refers to his and Felicity's seven year separation as a  _ rut _ of all things. There is a reason that they don't discuss Felicity whenever he calls. He doesn't even know if Felicity is still in contact with his mother and he’s honestly unsure if he wants to know.

“You’re ignoring my question, Oliver.”

“Mom, just drop it. It's in the past.” Oliver says stubbornly. “I just came here to get her to sign the papers. I figured handing her the pen and the papers would be enough. Clearly, I was wrong.”

“So, you crossed states  _ just _ to get a divorce.” Moira’s voice is clipped as she speaks and Oliver looks away guiltily.

“Mom of course not. I wanted to see you and Thea, and Walter.” He says but he knows she doesn't buy his weak excuse.

“Right and your friends? Are you even going to drive around your old neighborhood and see your friends? Tommy for example.”

Oliver shifts uncomfortably on the couch at her questions, it's been  _ years _ since spoken to, much less seen Tommy or any of his other childhood friends, “I'm not really in town for long…”

“Of course not.” Moira tuts but then sighs as she sinks back into the couch, “alright, since you clearly don't want to talk about that. Tell me more about this Marley girl you’re dating.”

“It's McKenna, Mom.” Oliver says in exasperation and looks at her warily, “I'm not dating her anymore….”

“Then why are you asking Felicity for a divorce. You two need to just sit down and talk things out not...” Moira interrupts but shrinks back at the glare Oliver sends her.

“I asked McKenna to marry me.” Oliver continues bracing himself for the inevitable blow up.

But to his surprise his mother looks at him calmly her hands resting on her lap reminding Oliver so much of his great grandma Dearden, whom he’s certain never looked haggard a day in her life.

“Okay, so when will I be meeting this McKenna?” 

“Oh.” Oliver says startled at the question. 

He was expecting protests and complaints, basically he thought he was signing himself up for the fifth degree which is why he waited the last possible moment to tell his mother. Her interest and almost eager disposition is throwing him for a loop and if he’s honest with himself, he’s highly suspicious about her attitude as well.

“I  _ am _ going to meet this girl before you marry her aren’t I?” Moira asks accusingly, her blue eyes narrowing at her son.

“Of course!” Oliver insists but then his cheeks redden as he looks away uncomfortably, “I just need to get this divorce out of the way.”

“She doesn't know about Felicity, that you have been married all this time.” Moira concludes and Oliver refuses to look at her not wanting to see the judgement in her eyes.

“We’re separated,” Oliver corrects unable to hide his growl of annoyance. His shoulders slump when he finally looks across at his mother defeated, “I didn't think it would be an issue.”

In other words he never imagined that he and McKenna would get this far. His mother seems to know exactly where his mind is at her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

“How long have you been dating this girl?”

“Two years.” Oliver answers reluctantly, knowing he's just digging himself into a deeper hole.

“I see.” His mother’s voice is clipped as she speaks and he can feel her eyes boring into his skull as he focuses on the muted television screen. “Well I hope you and this McKenna girl are happy, hopefully I'll be invited to this wedding. If not I wish you all the best,”

“Mom, don't be like that. You know I'll invite you all to the wedding. I only proposed earlier this week.” Oliver protests, the guilt building once again when he finally looks at his mother's disappointed expression.

“You know, the last few years, _ two _ if I'm going to be precise we have barely spoken, I understood that with your restaurant opening you’d be under a lot of stress. I was able to look past that but to find out, that you have been with this girl all this time and only mentioned her once or twice I'm beginning to wonder what is about this family you are so ashamed of? Is it because your step father is just a farmer or is because I'm just an assistant manager at the local bank. Starling isn't exactly glamorous like  _ your  _ Manhattan.”

“What? No! It's nothing like that! You know I'm not ashamed of you.” Oliver’s protests are as weak as they came and his mother sees right through him.

He’s not ashamed of his family or hard his mother has worked to provide for him and his sister, but this town, this little hick of a town has always felt so stifling to him. He felt like he grew up in a fishbowl all his life, everyone knows who he is and who is mother is. 

When he was 15 and he and Felicity skipped school to go skinny dipping in the lake, one of the barbers from across the street saw them and told their mothers. Or, when he was 14 and wanted to try his first beer with his best friend Tommy, the 21 year old service worker at the gas station that bought it for them had a girlfriend who worked with Felicity's mother in the salon, she Donna and Donna inevitably told Moria and he was grounded for 5 weeks because of that.

Everyone knew everyone in this small town and Oliver always felt like some specimen in a Petri dish under observation. 

He hated it.

“Fine. I should just be grateful that you came to visit me in the first place before you skipped town again.” Moira says dryly. “We’re having dinner with Thea, her boyfriend and a few neighbors. I expect you to be here at 6pm sharp.”

“I can help with dinner.” Oliver offers, trying to mend fences. He knows his distance this past few years have hurt his mother but he never realized how much until he was back in his childhood home. He should have known that all those times she and Thea came to visit, they would have been swept up in the beauty of Manhattan and their problems forgotten for those short few days away. 

It just never occurred to him how much he had hurt his mother by leaving like he did. 

Moira shakes her head in the negative, “It’s okay I want to cook for you for a change. You should visit some of your old friends. You should probably head over to the bank and close off your account. Mary says it's been sitting opened for the past 5 years with just $2.50 in it.”

Oliver is about to ask which bank, but then he remembers there is only  _ one _ bank in Starling. Much like there is only one gas station, one salon/barber. They do have their own McDonald’s though it doubles as an ice cream parlor. The ice cream parlor was always one Felicity’s favorites. 

Oliver shakes his head unsure where that particular thought came from. He rises to his feet and plants a kiss on his mother’s forehead. “I’ll go around and say hi. Do you need to me pick anything up?”

“No.” Moira answers already getting to her feet and gathering her laptop and her handbag, “I have to drop this off for Felicity and then head to the market. This old thing has been giving out on me lately.”

“Mom why didn't you say anything? I could have shipped one to you.” Oliver asks with a frown looking at the worn out laptop that's held together by tape at the hinge. 

He’s pretty sure Felicity will have a mini heart attack when she sees it. 

“Don't be silly, Oliver. This baby has been with me for years and she hasn't given up on me yet. Every three months, I get Felicity to fix it up for me make sure it's in working condition and still runs on the programs I need. Although, she’s not going to be pleased I taped up the cover when it broke. She’s been trying to get me to upgrade it for months, but I like my laptop. She's reliable and dependable.”

His mind can't process all that information fast enough. Not only is his mother and Felicity clearly on regular talking basis but his mother refers to her laptop as a  _ she _ and actually seems like she knows what she's talking about. 

He’s entered the twilight zone.

Now, he’s making tv show references, it only took 2 hours of being in this stupid town for it to happen.

He bids farewell to his mother with a promise of being home for dinner, it's not like he has anywhere else to go. The only hotel in Starling is the Westside Inn which unfortunately is run by Felicity’s best friend Iris West and if there is anyone in this entire town that hates Oliver more than Felicity, it's Iris West.

Suffice to say Oliver will be bunking on his too small, childhood, twin bed for his stay.

It's not until he’s halfway to the bank does he realize that his mother never did offer him advice and how to get Felicity to sign the papers

 

* * *

 

“Oliver Queen as I live and breathe!” 

A loud boisterous voice calls out to Oliver just as he’s about to cross the street. He turns around and can’t help but smile when he catches sight of his childhood best friend making his way towards Oliver. But, what is different is the little girl with unruly, curly, black hair and big brown eyes that is hanging off of Tommy’s arm talking animatedly, as they cross the street.

“What strong wind blew you across to this side of the country?” Tommy asks, there is laughter in his tone, and he is smiling brightly but Oliver can’t ignore the undercurrent of accusation. 

He and Tommy were best friends since middle school, they were practically inseparable, ( something that use to cause a lot of arguments between Felicity and Oliver, at least in the beginning) until Oliver picked up and left for New York without a word to his best friend. 

His mother’s wedding was such a clusterfuck for him, Oliver is not even sure if he ran into Tommy, and if he did he certainly does not remember it.

“Daddy, can the wind really blow someone all the way across the  _ country _ ?” The little girl asks with wide inquisitive eyes answering Oliver unasked question on who exactly she was.

Tommy chuckles wholeheartedly and scoops up the little girl with practiced ease, “no pumpkin, it’s just an expression.”

“Okay.” She nods her head in thought and then looks at Oliver curiously, “who are you, mister?”

“We’re still working on manners,” Tommy says with an embarrassed laugh, “This is an old friend of Daddy’s, Oliver Queen. Oliver, this is McKayla.”

To Oliver’s surprise McKayla’s eyes widen in recognition, she turns her head to look at her father and stage whispers, “Is this the guy Mommy calls a dink?”

“Kay! That’s a bad word and we don’t call people that.” Tommy admonishes and then looks at Oliver sheepishly.

“Sorry, Daddy.” She apologizes and then looks at Oliver, “Sorry mister Oliver.”

“It’s fine,” Oliver says easily, and then realizes he’s not sure how to speak to kid, he can’t remember when he was around one.  The last time he was around children was when Thea was at this age and Oliver was 15 and at fifteen the only thing Oliver was interested in was trying to get to third base with Felicity. Oliver has always avoided kids at all cost.

He looks at Tommy who is highly amused at how uncomfortable his daughter is making Oliver. like mother like daughter Oliver thinks wirely, “So Iris West uh?”

Tommy’s  face lights up like a Christmas tree at the mere mention of Iris, the silver ring on his finger catching in the midday sun. “You  _ married  _ Iris uh? And here I thought zebras couldn't change their stripes.”

Tommy narrows his eyes at Oliver but Oliver can't keep his face neutral and he breaks out into laughter and claps Tommy on the shoulder, “Congrats man. Seriously.”

“So, what brings you back to this old town?” Tommy asks curiously, “you finally got your head out of your….shirt sleeve?”

Oliver frowns at the odd comparison just as McKayla giggles loudly and tugs on his shirt sleeve, “Mr. Oliver you got your head stuck in your sleeve too? Only little kids do that!”

“That’s right Kay, Oliver is very silly.” Tommy answers for him and then tickled the little girl into a fit of giggles. 

Oliver can only watch on in amazement until Tommy looks at him pointedly, clearly waiting for an answer to his poorly worded analogy.

Oliver glances at McKayla briefly before looking at his former best friend, “I just have some things to take care of, things I should have done years ago.”

“Uh.” Is the only response he gets which is disconcerting to say the least, “why?”

“We haven't been together in 7 years.” Oliver says deadpan not believing Tommy would even ask that. Why is it so surprising that he’s asking for one in the first place?

“There’s another girl.” Tommy’s tone isn't one of curiosity like Oliver’s mother but instead almost full of accusation. 

“And what if there is?” Oliver snaps, the third degree is not welcomed.

Out of everyone Oliver assumed Tommy would understand, after all Tommy was the one that always encouraged Oliver to leave his mother’s diner and head to New York and follow his dreams. Tommy himself hated working in his father’s company, the only car dealership in Starling, and wanted to do something more meaningful with his life.

“Just checking if you finally found your balls and came to end things once and for all. Both of you leaving things unopened like this was just stupid and childish. Like you were both waiting for the other to cave, you are both too stubborn for your own good.”

Oliver narrows his eyes suspiciously at Tommy’s words, the fact that Tommy is married to Felicity’s best friend is not lost to him and he’s almost certain Tommy knows something, “What did Felicity say?”

“Mr. Oliver did you lose your balls? Were they marbles like Daddy’s? Auntie Felicity always saying Mommy has Daddy’s marbles.”

Oliver laughs wholeheartedly at the little girl’s statement while Tommy just groans in embarrassment burying his face in McKayla’s curly hair, “Kay, remember we talked about not always repeating what Auntie Felicity says.”

“Why? She’s the smartest person we know, she says smart things and Mommy says I should be smart like her.”

“Sometimes smart people can also be evil.” Oliver remarks dryly and only realizes he just said that to a little kid when Mckayla gasps loudly and Tommy is looking at him in annoyance.

“Imma tell auntie Felicity that you said she was evil!” McKayla threatens as she wriggles her little finger at Oliver.

“Good.” Oliver says in a clipped voice holding back his anger because he knows he's just talking to a kid, “you can tell her Oliver says the shoe fits too.”

“You wear  Auntie Felicity’s shoes?” Mckayla asks with a giggle looking down and Oliver’s shoes with a wrinkled nose.

“Yes, sometimes he likes to play dress up like you and Ashley.” Tommy says with a forced smile as he sets his daughter on her feet, he then looks at Oliver with narrow eyes almost daring Oliver to say otherwise. 

“Sorry.” Oliver mutters when Mckayla eagerly walks up to a nearby dog as Tommy catches the owner’s eyes with a smile. It shouldn't surprise Oliver than Tommy knows the person, after all on the short walk from his mother’s house to the bank he ran into 4 old high school classmates. 

Everyone knows everyone in this little town it's why Oliver hated it so much. “I shouldn't have said that in front of her.”

“I'm guessing you haven't been around kids since...well since Thea was one.” Tommy says with an amused grin the light in his friend’s eyes makes Oliver breathe an internal sigh, “first rule? They are like sponges. They take in  _ everything _ and she’s gonna tell Felicity exactly what you said, just so you know.”

Oliver shrugs his shoulders unfazed by this revelation, “Good maybe if I her piss off enough she’ll sign the fucking papers.”

Tommy only scoffs in return, “Oliver, you’ve known Felicity your entire life, when has pissing her off  _ ever _ been the solution to getting your way?”

Oliver growls in frustration because Tommy has a point. Felicity is so ridiculously stubborn the more he does things to piss her off the more she will stand her ground. 

Once, in high school they had a fight, Oliver wanted to make it up to her by taking her to see the new Spider Man 2 in the old drive-in theatre but Felicity refused because she knew how much he wanted to go, despite the fact that  _ she _ was the one that wanted to go,  just as much as he did. 

In the end neither of saw the movie that night. 

It wasn't until three nights later Felicity convinced Mr. Trudeau the owner of the drive-in to open the small town cinema, that he also ran, just for the two of them. It probably helped that she was the one to fix the computer issue the main screen was having.

They watched that movies twice that night, well they watched it the second time around. The first time they ended up making out through most of it.

“You’re both such idiots.” Tommy says with a roll of his eyes, when Oliver looks at him curiously Tommy only shakes his head, “Good luck with trying to get her to sign those papers. I gotta go pick up my son, I’ll see you later tonight.”

“Tonight?” Oliver asks stupidly watching as Tommy rubs McKayla’s back to gain her attention, his old friends spins around to look at Oliver curiously, “Your welcome home dinner, your Mom sent me a text earlier.

Oliver rubs his face tiredly at his friend’s words, he literally  _ just _ left his mother’s house not even 20 minutes ago and already she’s invited the entire town over. 

“We’ll catch a few drinks after?” Tommy asks with a laugh at Oliver’s disgruntled expression.

The invitation gives Oliver pause and he’s never been more grateful for his best friend in that moment, “definitely.”

“You’re gonna need it.” Tommy’s laughter can be heard as he walks toward his daughter and turns back to face Oliver just as his lands on his daughter’s shoulder, “Drinks on you Mr. New York!”

Oliver rolls his eyes just about to filp his friend off but then sees the bright brown innocent eyes of McKayla staring back at him. He just barely is able to wave at the pair, instead.

He can’t believe his mother invited the entire town for dinner. 

He’s just about to turn around and head back home to give his mother a piece of his mind, knowing exactly  _ whom _ she wants to invite to this dinner, but the bank is literally on the other side of the small park and he’s here already.

That and he needs to calm down before he talks to his mother anyway.

He’s making his way across the familiar cobblestone pathway, the tall trees looming over him and reminding him of a miniature Central Park. He’s walking by the small entrance to a secret alcove Felicity found in their sophomore year of high school when he hears the soft moans of a couple clearly putting the secret space to good use. Oliver only shakes his head in amusement his own fond memories of this place coming back to him. That is until he makes out the name one of the kids is moaning out.

“ _ Thea,” _

Oliver doesn't even think, he just reacts. He stalks through the short bushes, jumps over a large boulder and yanks some kid in a red hoodie off a young girl who is protesting  _ loudly _ at the interruption.

“Hey what the fuck... _ Ollie?”  _  Thea scrambles to her feet and zips up her jeans jacket in one fluid motion her face is red but not of embarrassed but full of fury, “Ollie, what the hell are you doing?”

“What am  _ I  _ doing? What are  _ you  _ doing?” Oliver asks livid the punk she was making out with is trying to get away from Oliver but Oliver has a firm grip on the boy’s red hoodie.

“Let him go, Ollie!” Thea growls shoving Oliver in the chest. She huffs angrily when Oliver barely even flinches, “what are you even doing here? Were you spying on me? Let him go!”

“I wasn’t spying on you, I was walking by and heard this little shit taking advantage of you…”

“I'm pretty sure she was taking advantage of me.” Roy says with all honesty but then winces when Oliver yanks back on his hoodie forcibly.

“Ollie!” Thea protests again slapping Oliver’s arm until he releases his hold on the boy who immediately scrambles to stand up behind Thea, eyeing Oliver warily.

“So, that’s your brother, uh?” The boy quips.

“Not very smart are you?” Oliver remarks, grinning in satisfaction when the boy cowers.

“Ollie leave Roy alone.” Thea demands. She folds her arms across her chest and glares at him, “what hell is the matter with you? Barging in on people like that?”

“ _ Barging in? _ Thea you’re in the  _ park _ in broad daylight. What were you thinking?”

“Dude, it's kind of obvious.” Roy remarks but then ducks behind Thea yet again when Oliver takes a step towards him, “I'm going to stop talking now.”

“That would be my preference.” Oliver snaps he then looks at Thea, “you’re too young to be…”

“Having sex?” Thea quips brazenly making Oliver wince, “don't be such a hypocrite. We both know you and Felicity weren’t just going for a  _ swim _ back in high school.”

“You were  _ seven!”  _

_ “ _ Alright fine, I didn't know back then but I figured it out when I got older. I'm 18 years old Ollie, you can't just pop into Starling randomly and expect to tell me what to do.”

Oliver is about to protest, but then realizes that she makes a valid point. His sister is a few short weeks from graduating high school and he’s done much worse with Felicity in this very spot than what he caught his sister doing, although he suspects if he was a few minutes later it would have been worse.

“Just, find a better place than the  _ park.”  _ Oliver grunts out not believing he's having this conversation with his baby sister.

“Noted.” Thea remarks dryly. She rolls her eyes when Roy offers an arm to help her climb over the boulder and brushes his hand away, then easily climbs up and over the boulder on her own. “So why are you in Starling anyway?”

“I had some things to take care of.” Oliver explains evasively.

“Trying to get Felicity to divorce you again?” Roy pipes up from behind, “Ha! We should open up the betting pool again.”

Oliver spins around to glare at the kid who raises up both hands in defense. Oliver only shakes his head and looks at his sister tiredly, “does  _ everyone  _ know about this? Didn't they all assume we got divorced?”

“Ollie, did you forget what this town is like?” Thea asks with a laugh and hooks her arm around Oliver’s falling into step with him, Roy now trailing behind them, “I’m sure Felicity has already been invited to dinner today, and everyone wants a front seat view of the epic tale of Oliver and Felicity.”

“Felicity and I aren't anything.” Oliver grumbles, “I'm engaged to someone else.”

“What? Why?” To Oliver’s surprise it's Roy who is demanding this and when Oliver looks at the kid he’s surprised to see he’s genuinely upset.

“Don't mind him, he’s the idiot that placed $100 on you coming back to win Felicity back this year.” Thea says with a laugh, “and before you ask Felicity doesn't know about these bets.”

“There shouldn't even be bets in the first place.” Oliver grumbles but knows the point is moot cause this nosy town will never change. He wants to ask his sister’s boyfriend why he chose this year, but decides against it. It's not like it's an issue anyway, “I’m engaged.”

“Is it that McKenna girl you mentioned when you called for Christmas?” Thea asks, there is no accusation in her tone, but Oliver feels guilty when he realizes it's almost been 5 months since he last spoke to his family. 

“Yea.” Oliver answers.

“Congrats, Ollie.” Thea’s voice is genuine as she gives him a sideways hugs, “I really hope you found what you were looking for.” 

Oliver is unsure how to respond to his sister’s statement.

When they finally get to the bank Oliver is still thinking about his sister's words and part of him is terrified to think he doesn't know what he's looking for or what he wants.

He pushes those thoughts aside as he tells his sister and her boyfriend goodbye. It's not until he's standing in front of the bank teller that he realizes that is 1 o'clock in the afternoon on a  _ weekday  _ and his sister is just roaming the town with her boyfriend. His sister ditched school and unlike Oliver she seems to have gone completely under his mother’s radar.

“Would you like to access your other account, Mr Queen?” Charlotte, the woman behind the counter asks him but Oliver is too busy thinking about what his sister is up to now instead of being in school. “Oliver!”

“What?”

“Your other account, would you like to access it?”

“Other account?” Oliver asks stupidly, he’d just closed off his only account, or so he thought.

“The joint account you have with Felicity Smoak-Queen.” Charlotte says reading off the computer. Charlotte went to school with Oliver and Felicity, she knows exactly who Felicity is.

“Joint account.” Oliver repeats to himself so many ideas going through his head.

“Would you like to access it?” Charlotte asks again now looking at Oliver as though he lost his mind.

“Can I just get the balance?” Oliver inquires.

He signs the small slip of paper and then looks down at the account, his eyes bulging in surprise. There is almost two and half of a million in the account and that is definitely not  _ Oliver’s  _ money. He wonders what Felicity could have possibly done to get that kind of cash, especially since he knows she only owns a small tech shop.  

He decides that not blowing the money in that account was probably the best idea, especially if he wants to be in her good books. Also, he just can't spend her hard earned money even if it's under both their names.

For now he just has to focus on his plan to get Felicity to finally sign the papers.

 

* * *

 

“Well look at what the cat dragged in.” A low voice whistles as Oliver steps into the brightly lit backyard that’s already swarming with people.

Oliver huffs out a low breath the fake smile that was plastered on his face since entering his mother’s house dropping, “Iris West, I heard a rumour that you sank your claws into my best friend.”

Iris as always isn't even affected by Oliver’s snark as she shifts the sleeping baby in her arms, “Some best friend who couldn't even make it to Tommy’s wedding.”

Oliver falters at her words, he didn't even know there was a wedding in the first, “I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn't, Tommy was looking for you at your mother’s wedding to ask you to be best man, but you were too  _ busy _ .”

Oliver winces from her tone Oliver is certain she knows exactly what he was doing or  _ whom _ as the case may be. He had Felicity stole two bottles of champagne and somehow lost themselves in each other and ended up back at their house before the dessert could be served.

Iris less than impressed expression tells Oliver she knows exactly where his mind went, but no one could be more bitter about the outcome of that night than Oliver is, “don’t talk about things you know nothing about, West.”

“Merlyn-West now.” She corrects him her eyes narrowing at him, “You broke my best friend’s heart more times than I care for Queen, or is it Dearden now? I heard you were so ashamed of your family you threw it away just like your marriage.”

Oliver growls angrily at her words, he takes one look at the sleeping baby and then walks away deciding she’s not worth his time. But he can't ignore that nagging feeling that if  _ she _ feels that way there is a 90% chance this is how Felicity feels as well, and that is not a good thing.

“Ollie-Bear! My favourite boy!”

There is only one person in the world that is allowed to call Oliver that. 

Oliver spins around and the first genuine smile blossoms on his face just  as a bundle of blonde locks and strong perfume tackles into a large hug.

“Donna!” He says with a choked laugh. He’d hope that the older woman, someone who has been like a second mother to him, would still welcome him, but the enthusiasm surprises him to say the least.

“Look at you how handsome.” She says with a bright smile taking a step back to really look with him, “You look a little peaked though. Are you eating properly? I hope that fancy restaurant isn’t over working you.”

“Well, technically I’m the boss, so I’m overworking myself.” Oliver says sheepishly.

“Exactly my point!” She points an accusing finger at him, her bright purple nails long and glittering and Oliver can’t help but grin. He’s missed his mother-in-law a lot these past 5 years. “I’m glad you’re finally taking a vacation and maybe you and my stubborn daughter can finally settle your differences.”

Oliver’s smile falter at the mention of Felicity, “Donna...I’m sorry but I didn’t come here to...I mean...I…”

“Oh your mother told me. Personally, I think you two kids need a good tap on the behind to sort out your problems it worked wonders when you were in diapers and fighting over your pacifiers. But I’ve been told that I should let you two sort out your differences like the adults you are.” She repeats the last part in a mocking british tone and Oliver is almost certain that his stepfather has been warning his mother and Donna about their meddling. 

He needs to buy his stepfather a gift in thanks, even if they both know it would be for naught, case in point this completely unnecessary party.

“Donna, I’m really sorry about what happened between me and Felicity and I would understand if you and I…” He splutters when Donna grabs his lips with her index finger and thumb, effectively shutting him up.

“Oliver Queen, when have I given off the impression that whatever happened between you and my baby girl would  _ ever _ affect how I felt about you?” She all but demands her hands going to her hips and her eyes narrowing up at him.

She reminds him all too well of that time he and Felicity missed curfew, and not by an hour or two, but instead, he tried to sneak Felicity back home at 8 am and Donna caught them red handed. The two had gone to the lake to enjoy a late night swim under the stars and ended up falling asleep in each other arms under one of the willow trees. They were fifteen at the time and it’s safe to say neither of their mothers allowed them to see each other for the rest of the month.

That month of sneaking around was probably the most fun he and Felicity ever had.

“She may not have told me much...well more like she kept it all to herself, as always.” Donna huffs in annoyance going slightly off tangent, the familiarity of it all brings a smile to Oliver’s face. Donna shakes her head and looks up at Oliver expectantly, “You’ll always be like a son to me, Oliver no matter what happened between you and Felicity. I wiped that little tushie of yours way too many times to suddenly disown it.”

Oliver groans in embarrassment, Felicity’s mother always did love talking about taking care of them in diapers. The first time he and Felicity were ever caught in a compromising position, it was her mother who had found them in the shower after Felicity took a nosedive into the freezing cold lake. Suffice to say they thought got the lesser of two evils between his mother and hers, only Donna decided to pull out some old baby pictures of the two bathing in a bathtub together and proceeded to embarrass them so much they never took a shower together in their houses for a long,  _ long _ time.

This also coincided with how they broke the news to their mothers that they started dating.

“I’m glad…I didn’t think you would...” He wants to say more but he realizes he’s getting emotional thinking about it. 

This woman has been like a second mother to him, has taken care of he and his sister more times than he can remember. For a long while she and his mother worked together to raise the three of them and he’s forever grateful for everything she has done and he hates that he’s kept his distance from her for so long afraid of what she thought of him after he left town. 

“Oh hun, I could never hate you!” Donna implores wrapping Oliver in a tight hug and Oliver breathes a sigh of relief. 

With the exception of his own mother every single person he’s ran into since coming home has given him the cold shoulder and Oliver is just grateful he’s not completely unwelcomed as he feels.

“So was this your master plan? Butter up my mother and get her to convince me to sign the papers?” A bitter voice calls out behind them.

“Felicity Megan Smoak…”

“Mom, stay out of it. I told you it was none of your business.” Felicity all but growls. She’s dressed in a dark green polo shirt and shorts, clearly in her work attire, a large black bag with the logo  _ Smoak Technologies _ written in bold is hooked over her shoulder. “Then again I also told you I had to work tonight, but you and Moira conveniently had electrical problems with your projector. None of which is set up, this was an  _ actual _ set up wasn’t it? I should go.”

“Felicity, wait.” Oliver calls out squeezing Donna’s hand in reassurance before he follows Felicity through the backyard, the party is still buzzing but he knows everyone is following their every move. He grab holds of her bag, halting her in her steps, “Why don’t you stay for dinner? Everyone is here and I’m sure work will still be there in the morning. I promise not to bring up the D word, in fact we won’t even have to talk to each other. These are your friends and family too.”

“C’mon honey, you’ve worked yourself silly these past few weeks. Take a break.” Donna implores popping up behind Oliver, clearly she had no faith that Oliver could convince Felicity to stay.

“Mom, I told Curtis I’d be in the office for a video call. You know how hard it’s been to sync our schedules with the time difference lately.”

At the mention of another man, Oliver freezes, his curiosity getting the best of him, “Curtis, is he your….”

“Boyfriend? Yes.” Felicity says firmly, oddly enough avoiding eye contact with her mother, when Oliver turns to look at Donna, the older woman in turn looks away and back at the party. 

He’s missing something he’s sure of it, but a boyfriend could actually work in his favour, if he needs to convince her to sign the divorce papers. “Look stay for dinner, we both know you have your tablet on you, when the boy calls you can take it in the house. My mother made your favourite chicken cordon bleu.”

“You always did say your mother liked me more than you.” Felicity remarks with just the barest hint of smile. 

Oliver marks that down in the win column.

“Oh don’t be silly Moira loves you both all the same.” Donna admonishes. She takes Felicity’s bag from her essentially making the decision for her daughter and walks off with a small wave of her hand.

Felicity huffs in annoyance watching her mother’s retreating figure and then turns to Oliver expectantly, “you know they are setting us up right?”

“I'm hoping that if they can get this out of their system now, maybe they will leave us to figure things out on our own.” Oliver says naively and Felicity only scoffs in disbelief.

“Yes and we know how well that turned out for us last time,” Felicity remarks dryly.

“I don't know I seem to remember both of us learning some new things that weekend.” Oliver flirts.

“Yes, realizing that my husband fucked me and left me like some common whore the next morning was certainly a ‘new’ experience.” 

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Oliver all but growls hooking his finger in the loop of her jeans stopping her before she could stalk off. “I didn't fuck you and leave you!”

He and Felicity are both hot headed, they have had numerous fights in all their years together. Screaming matches, things flying and lots and lots of tears but one thing neither of them has ever done is touch the other while angry. 

There was once an incident with a football when they were 9 years old and Oliver ended up on the hospital with a broken nose and they just made a pack about it, even traded a spit and splat handshake.

Oliver forgot how much of a tomboy Felicity use to be. 

“Forgot it Oliver.” Felicity growls, “look the moment we turn the corner and head back I there they are going to be looking at us…”

“Even more than they already are?” Oliver remarks sarcastically releasing his hold on her pants when she taps his forearm. He wants to get to the bottom of her earlier remark but he knows how Felicity works if he pushes her anymore she’ll just clamp up and that’s the last thing he needs right now.

“My point is smile and be happy and then maybe they would not give us the fifth degree.”

“I know I haven't been in town for a while, but you can't tell me things have changed  _ that _ much. The only reason half of these people are here is because they want front seats to the Oliver and Felicity show.”

“Christ Oliver, why do you always do that? Why can't you just go along with what I'm saying instead of protesting against every one of my suggestions?” Felicity turns on her heels and stalks off towards the street, “I knew this was a bad idea.”

“Oh for fucks sake.” Oliver growls taking four large strides to catch up with her, “if you go now they are going to talk even more, besides your mother has your bag.”

“Oliver, get out of my way.” Felicity orders.

“Look I know me being here unannounced like this is upsetting you. Things are obviously going well for you at that boy of yours and your job. I don't want to mess with that. All I came for was to get you to sign those papers and I'll be out of your life for good, we don't even have to talk things out. Just sign the papers. It's what we both want, right?”

Felicity’s eyes are blazing her arms folded across her chest, Oliver is expecting some kind of explosion, maybe annoyance at him calling her new boyfriend a ‘boy’. The last time he did that she retaliated as much, granted they were 13 and some tall ass punk asked her out to the spring formal before Oliver could, but Felicity is a woman of habit after all.

Instead, Felicity just growls and stride steps him and makes her way  _ back _ towards the party.

“Wait. Where are you going?” Oliver asks in confusion huffing when she halts her steps every few meters just so that  _ he _ has to stop before he bounces into her, but ignores his inquiries only pissing him off even more.

“Back to the party. If I leave you’re just going to follow me all the way home and nag me. If I go to this stupid thing you aren't going to air our dirty laundry out for everyone to see.”

With those final words she plasters on a big smile just as she rounds the corner and greets the first person that she sees.

Her dismissal is not surprising to Oliver, but it certainly is frustrating, but if she refuses to speak with him, he’s just going to have resort to plan C. 

  
By the time he’s done she’ll be begging him to divorce her.


	3. Chapter 3

The sound of oil sizzling in the pan echoes in the large kitchen. Steam builds from another pot and the smell of grilled fish and brussels sprouts filling the room.

It’s not the most pleasant of smells, but that's the point of this little cook up he’s doing.

He pulls open the oven checking on the large pizza, the goat cheese is melting and Oliver grimaces at the smell he’s not a fan and when he sees the green broccoli shriveling under the hot light he can’t help but smirk.

Felicity hates broccoli with ever fiber of her being. The notion has always amused Oliver when they were growing up, the idea that she could despise a vegetable to that degree.

She’s always been a passionate person, be it about the voracity in which she hates a common vegetable or the all consuming way she loved him. Oliver falters, the wooden spoon almost slipping from his fingers, ever since he’s been back in this town, visiting places that hold a special place in his heart, he’s been hit with a bad case of nostalgia. Standing in the lake house they built together does not help matters, he’s being assaulted with memories of their time together, almost 3 decades worth of memories.

Each time he remembers something from the past, the hate within him slowly chips away and more than once he’s contemplated packing up and leaving her alone.

He checks his phone as a substitute timer, given the fact that his baseball shaped timer is probably at the bottom of the lake after Felicity tossed it out 10 years ago. Each time he looks at the small screen a picture of him and McKenna at the top of the Empire State Building reminds him exactly why he’s here in the first place.

He pointedly ignores the fact that he has yet to call his fiance, and actually would have forgotten if his mother didn’t ask about her after the welcome home party a few days ago.

The welcome home party went exactly as Oliver expected, there were so many people there that wanted to see him he was constantly busy and when he was finally allowed to breath and try and talk to Felicity, she conveniently slipped out of sight.

He tried calling her on her phone but he stopped after _his_ phone suddenly started blaring Aqua’s Barbie Girl and he couldn’t turn it off. He hasn’t turned on his tablet yet, but he wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing occurred.

He finally gave up and called truce with her, at least he needs her to believe he called truce. He then did his own digging, or more like offered to take Donna to lunch and was able to get enough information from his mother-in-law to know that Felicity would be out of town for the day. Almost six hours later and he’s all but moved back into the house along with a few ‘gifts’ he has for his wife and he’s counting down the minutes till she arrives.

He hears the sound of Felicity’s jeep pulling into the gravel driveway just as he’s pulling the pizza out of the oven. He perches himself against the counter that faces the door leading from the garage, a slice pizza in his hand.

Felicity comes barging into the room four large boxes in her arms, her handbag hanging precariously from her wrist, her entire face obscured by the boxes. Her high heels are tossed to the side with a loud clang before she even steps into the house.

“Jesus, what died in here.” Felicity gags softly, “I knew I should have thrown out that food from Mrs. Lee ages ago.”

“Actually, it’s goat cheese pizza with broccoli, tomatoes and basil.” Oliver calls out smirking when all the boxes clatter to floor and Felicity’s face pales, but soon as she sees Oliver her eyes narrow.

“What are you doing here?” She growls moving to pick up her boxes and deposit them on the small dinner table. “ _How_ did you get in here and why does my house smell like a pig shat in it? Oliver, what the fuck did you do?”

“What?” Oliver asks innocently holding up the slice of pizza in offering, enjoying the way her eyes narrow at him, “can’t a guy make dinner for his lovely _wife_?”

“ _No!”_ Felicity barks, “get out. Get out of my house. _Now!_ ”

“No can do, _honey_ ,” Oliver smirks. He takes a significant bite of his pizza and smiles widely at her, “last I check this house was in _both_ our names. As is our joint savings account.”

“No, you did not empty my hard earn money.” Felicity growls as she whips out her phone, her fingers sweeping rapidly across the screen, “I know you can be a real asshole, but I would never think you would stoop so low to...oh.”

“So according to Charlotte, in order for that account to close, you need a signature from _both_ holders. Oliver points out, “So what do you say? Signature for a signature, after all you don’t want me to have access to _all_ that money.  Almost 3 _million_ dollars, if I counted my zeros correctly.”

“Are you threatening to steal _my_ money?” Felicity counters.

She folds her arms over her chest, shifting the sheer blue shirt creating a large gap that gives Oliver a large view of her creaming skin, he may have momentarily forgotten how hot an angry Felicity is, but his body certainly does not. He looks away immediately and the fire in her eyes giving him pause. After all the years he still can’t lie to her, not about something like this. “Of course not. I’m just saying you…”

“Fuck off, Oliver,” Felicity growls cutting him off immediately, the small bit of remorse he was previously feeling completely evaporating. “Get out of my house. I have nothing to say to you, or any papers to sign for you.”

“ _Our_ house.” Oliver corrects again. He grabs his plate with another slice of pizza. “Excuse me, I want to finish my dinner in _my_ living room.”

“Oliver Queen! Do not walk away from me!” Felicity bellows.

Oliver only rolls his eyes and plops himself into the sofa his feet propped up on the coffee table, that's littered with all of Felicity’s technological trinkets.

“Oliver! What are you doing? Get out!”

“I'm having dinner,” Oliver explains calmly as he takes another bite of his pizza, “do you want?”

“No! I don't want your stupid, nasty smelling pizza! I want you to leave!” She's pouting now her, even so much as stomping her foot which only amuses Oliver more.

“No can do, wife of mine.” Oliver chuckles when she tosses one of her many throw pillows at him and he effectively dodges it without missing a beat or a bite of his pizza. After almost 3 decades he’s well attuned with Felicity and her freak outs. “I promised my mom I’ll stick around till her birthday next week. I decided to stay in my house. We both know that twin bed in my room can't fit me anymore. Although we sure had a lot of fun trying to fit on it.”

Felicity growls in annoyance and plops herself on a nearby armchair, she untucks her shirt and then unbuttons her jeans sighing in relief. It’s such a natural ritual for her, that Oliver can’t help but smile remembering a time when _he_ use to be the one helping her out of her clothes after a long day of work. As soon as his thoughts venture there Oliver quickly takes a bite of his pizza hiding his smile before Felicity notices. He should _not_ be thinking about undressing his ex-wife, especially when he has three missed calls from his _fiance_ back home.

“Well, you aren’t kicking me out of _my_ bedroom.” Felicity says stubbornly. She eyes the pizza with disgust, and then looks at Oliver with narrowed eyes, “You lost that right when you walked out on me 7 years ago.”

“I did not leave you! You practically pushed me out!” Oliver growls, “I wasn't the one that called quits! You made that decision all on your own!”

“No you just made the decision for both of us like you always do.” Felicity snaps back. She rises to her feet tugging on her long blonde hair tiredly, “Look I’ve had a really long day I just wanna have some chicken nuggets and take a long bath. If you insist on being here. Just stay out of my way.”

With that said she spins on her heels and stalks off to the kitchen. The moment Oliver hear’s the fridge door open he begins to count down, he hasn't even made it to three when Felicity’s loud screech can be heard.

“Oliver! Where is all my _food_? Did you throw away my nuggets? And my pop tarts? All my cereals are gone! Oliver, you know that like to munch on my Trix when I'm working on my computers. I bought three brand new boxes of cereal this weekend and they are all gone!  Oliver Jonas Queen, are you out of your fucking mind?”

“I threw out all the process junk and got some _real_ food.” Oliver says calmly as he leans against the counter watching Felicity digg through her freezer.

Felicity’s toes just barely graze the floor as she digs deeper into the freezer for her food. He takes an automatic step closer to her, automatically reaching for her in case she falls in, memories of them as kids searching for the ice cream and Felicity falling into the freezer now at the forefront of his mind.

“Homemade pizza to freeze. Cut up grilled chicken breasts. There are fruits, vegetables, eggs. Everything for a well balanced diet.”

“Oliver! I don't cook! I've never cooked a day in my life. Why the fuck would you throw out perfectly good food for all this _crap_? Are you trying to drive me crazy? Because it's working.”

“I’m simply taking care of my wife.” Oliver says with a smirk, if Felicity were a cartoon he is certain there would have steam coming out of her ears by now. “What kind of husband would I be if I let my wife eat so terribly?”

“The kind that doesn't want his _ex-wife_ to kill him in his sleep!” Felicity yells. She grabs the pizza tray and looks at Oliver with an evil grin of her own. She tosses the entire pizza in the sink and then proceeded to turn on the water essentially ruining the pizza.

Oliver though only folds his arms and grins, “there are three more of those already packed away in the freezer. Couldn't let you starve now can I?”

Felicity suddenly screams out in frustration her fingers clenched to her side, “You...I...alright. FINE! If this is how you’re going to play it then I hope you are ready for _war_ Mr. Queen.”

She points a finger warningly at him just as she pelts one of the sponges at his face. She stalks over to the garbage bin and releases a strangled sob when she sees _all_ of her perfectly good chicken nuggets inside covered in the remains of some of Oliver’s vegetables.

“You know this entire thing can be avoided if you just sign the papers!” Oliver calls out pleasantly.

“Fuck you, Oliver!”  Felicity shrills followed by the sound of the bedroom door slamming.

Oliver only smiles in response, this is the exact reaction he was hoping for. He’s certain he’ll have those signed papers by tomorrow.

* * *

 

Over the next few days it was a battle of wills in the Smoak-Queen household.

The first morning Felicity woke up at the ass crack of dawn to make her coffee and bang every single pan in the kitchen. Felicity doesn't cook, in fact Oliver is 100% certain that she was not exaggerating about her meals for the past 7 years she has either lived off of cereal or coffee for her breakfast. However, with her unwanted houseguest on her living room sofa, a mere 10 feet away from her kitchen she decided it was finally time to examine every frying pan and kitchen cupboard in the gourmet kitchen Oliver had built years ago.

Oliver took it all in stride, when you live in New York City, the sound of yelling, sirens and cars honking is all part of the natural New York sound. Felicity’s little stunt barely phased him and because it didn’t bother him, she of course gave up. He’s pretty sure all the noise bothered _her_ more than him, after all a morning person his wife is _not_.

On day three he decided to make himself a large serving of chocolate chip pancakes, sliced strawberries and watermelon.

All of Felicity’s favourite.

The house smelled of melted chocolate and pastries, Felicity’s weakness. Sure enough she ventured out of her bedroom in her Smoak Tech polo shirt and her pajama shorts, clearly led out by her nose, she sniffs the air and then zeros in Oliver’s stack of pancakes. Her hair is still in a disarray and Oliver is suddenly taken back to the first time they went away together, the summer after high school graduation and they drove down the coast to San Diego and enjoyed a blissful week together.  The very first day Oliver made her chocolate chip pancakes with sliced strawberries and watermelon, he’s almost ashamed of himself for pulling out this meal on her, especially when he had no plans on actually _making_ it for her, but at her lack of recognition, he breathes a sigh of relief and just smirks at her curious expression.

Oliver smiles at her seeing the way she's itching to ask if he made enough for two but she visibly bites her lip to hold back. “There is some batter remaining in the fridge. If you want.”

With those words Felicity scowls and flips him off stalking into her room to finish getting ready.

Felicity’s attempt at cooking are few and far between after all.

Once, while on their honeymoon she thought she would try and make pancakes from ready made batter and she almost burnt down the small bungalow they had rented. Suffice to say she has not touched a frying pan since and Oliver suspected that she hasn't since he left either, she all but admitted that his first night back.

Despite all this, after she stomps off to their bedroom, Oliver finds himself making the pancakes for her anyway and he leaves them cooling on a plate. He then ventures back into the living room and tries to not seem like he’s checking to see if she eats the pancakes--which he totally did.

He gets a disgruntled thank you before she leaves and he’s beginning to wonder if annoying Felicity into signing the papers is really the way to go.

* * *

 

On one of the rare moments where they aren’t driving each other crazy, or more like Felicity’s at work so Oliver has the place to himself. Oliver is walking around the house checking on the things that need to be fixed like the broken shelf that housed some of their wedding pictures, all of which are in a box on the floor. He’s unsure if Felicity put those away herself, or did it because of the faulty shelf, either way he finds his old tool box and proceeds to fasten both shelves back to the wall. He grabs the first two at the top, one of Felicity and Iris smiling at the camera, the white dress and yellow dress standing out against the dark hue of the lake. The other is one of Felicity and all her bridesmaids including Thea and Caitlin, who is now Starling’s resident doctor.

When he gets to the next picture and sees one of the both of them, their smiling faces almost mocking him, he drops the picture back into the box and moves away with record speed, unable to look at those pictures, look at what they use to be.

A low growl catches his attention, and pulls him away from his thoughts, and he can see Ollie staring back at him with red glowing eyes, watching Oliver’s every movement. “Go eat a carrot, you psycho rabbit.”

Oliver grumbles to himself as he moves outside to the back of the house where the stairs leading to the backyard is barely hanging on by the nails. In fact, judging from the small foot stool that sits on the grass right below the banister, Felicity has probably been using that to get on and off the porch for a while now. He spends a few hours working on the stairs, the sweltering sun does little to cool him off but he only has his jeans and refuses to take a duck into the lake until he’s finished. That and part of him is afraid to step into their old bedroom, he’s been bombarded with memories of their of their lives in this house, their very first home that they built _together_. He just doesn’t think he’s ready to step into that room yet.

He tugs off his shirt wiping his sweat covered brow in it before tossing it aside, turning his focus back on the stairs in front of him, rather than the demons that lie in the bedrooms of this house.

He’s hammering away and the stubborn railing, when familiar loud voice can be heard from a distance and almost startles him.

“Oliver Queen! What are you doing? I hope you’re not taking apart my porch. You have no right to deface my…. _oh_.” Felicity comes to abrupt halt when she finally turns the corner and sees what Oliver is doing.

“Why the hell didn’t you get someone to fix this shit for you?” Oliver grumbles angrily, tossing the hammer onto the grass and stretching his worn muscles. He gestures at the small wooden stool sitting underneath the banister, “ _That_ is an accident waiting to happen.”

She opens her mouth to protest he can see the fire in her eyes, but the moment Oliver takes a swing of water from his bottle, her entire jaws go slack. He doesn’t need to feel the small bits of condensation falling on his chest, to know it’s trickling down his torso, the way Felicity’s blue eyes follows said water drop is enough.

He’ll admit he considered using his body to drive Felicity crazy at first, but he knows all too well how that _always_ would backfire on him cause she would just use _her_ body in retaliation, and that always ended up with either one of them on their backs, naked and writhing in pleasure. It was great when he was trying to get his way when they were together, but he’s pretty sure his _fiance_  would not be too pleased, that is if McKenna knew about Felicity. Then again McKenna would probably not approve of Oliver practically living with his estranged wife either.

Oliver sends Felicity an exaggerated wink, and Felicity growls loudly, her cheeks red in embarrassment for getting caught oogling him, “Just don’t boebytrap my stairs.”

Oliver only scoffs and tilts his head to the side looking at her incredulously, practical jokes has always been _Felicity’s_ fortey especially when they were kids and Felicity knows that cause she just huffs loudly and stomps off and back into the house, grumbling under her breath.

Score for Oliver.

* * *

 

After that unplanned incident Oliver was certain Felicity would retaliate in kind, either parading around naked or something equally risky. After all his wife’s competitive side is one for the books, half of their petty little fights over the years he’s _let_ her won just cause he relented first, she is after all too stubborn for her own good.

His first mistake was assuming he still had the upper hand in this ongoing battle between them and thus let his guard down, the entire day had gone by without a peep from his wife, and he should have known that was the first sign of trouble.

As with most things in their lives Felicity beats Oliver to the punch and after all these years he really shouldn't be surprised that she suddenly got the upper hand without even trying.

Like when they were 6 years old and Oliver lost his first tooth he was so excited he practically ran to Felicity’s house to show her, only to realize she had lost her tooth the day before and had a crisp $5 to show for it.

Or when they were 15 and he wanted to ask her out officially, she beat him to the punch and asked _him_ to the movies.

She has always been one step ahead.

Case in point, this morning Oliver wakes up to the sound of an annoying high pitched voice blasting from the flat screen TV over the mantle. Oliver growls he’s about to yell at Felicity when a sharp pain tears through his chest, his eyes shoot open as something sharp digs into his bare chest, he looks down to see _Ollie_ , the fucking nuisance of a rabbit glaring at him, sharp nails piercing Oliver’s skin.

“ _Felicity,_ get this fucking devil rabbit off of me.” Oliver growls, he doesn’t try to move the rabbit, he learned the hard way that the little fucker is _strong._

He can more than overpower a rabbit, _obviously,_ but the damn thing is so _soft_ Oliver is afraid he’d break the thing’s bones and the last thing he wants to do is _break_ Felicity’s prized rabbit. He’s not heartless as Felicity claims. He looks across to Felicity and his breath is caught in his throat, all he sees is long expanse of creamy white skin, familiar long legs staring back at him, and firm ass encased in some slinky, _tight_ , short shorts. The stinging pain on his chest might be only thing that is preventing all his blood from flowing south.

“You’re in Ollie’s spot, Oliver,” Felicity explains calmly, her head peeking between her slightly parted legs as she looks at Oliver upside down.

“What the hell are you doing?” Oliver chokes out and it has nothing to do with the creature on his chest who, thankfully has retracted its claws and is now getting comfortable on Oliver’s chest.

“Yoga.”

The music from her video is silenced as Felicity moves into an upright position, Oliver’s eyes diverting when he sees the barely there pieces of string and material she calls a sports bra. She’s doing this to torture him, he knows this, after all he’s been walking around the apartment shirtless for the past few days. They both know exactly what buttons to press, it’s the reason their last encounter 5 years ago was so _explosive_...their sexual attraction was never a problem in their relationship.

After some snooping and observation Oliver has come to the conclusion that this Curtis person Felicity talked about his first night home, is _not_ her boyfriend as she claim. Okay, he just asked his mother and she confirmed his suspicions. Felicity’s latest tactic to drive him crazy once again confirming what he already knew, she clearly is unaware of Oliver’s current nuptials otherwise she would have _never_ paraded around the house in her barely there sports bra and shorts.

“You don’t exercise.” Oliver points out.

Felicity was an adventurer as a kid, she loved exploring with Oliver, riding their bikes, swimming in the lake during the summer. That along with vigorous amounts of sex was what Felicity called exercise, she doesn’t have the patience for sitting on a stationary bike and riding to the beat of music anymore than she can stay _quiet_ and do breathing exercises, more specifically _yoga_ of all things.

He uses the devil rabbit’s distracted state to sit up, but the moment he moves, the rabbit _hisses_ and then leaps off his chest and hops off towards Felicity’s bedroom. He winces when he sees the red spots on his chest, the little devil cut his skin.

“I took it up a few years ago….my uh therapist recommended I pick up something to clear my head.” Felicity says softly.

Oliver’s head shoots up at her admission, they never talked about it, talked about what happened 7 years ago, the beginning of the end as he refers to it. After he moved to New York neither tried to contact the other, he saw her two years later at his mother’s rehearsal dinner for her wedding and the rest was history.

That weekend was explosive in so many ways, but neither of them broached the subject of what happened, Oliver had hoped they would. He hoped that they would finally discuss things as adults, but 5 years later, divorce papers drawn up and he was clearly wrong about that too.

“You’ve...uh you’ve been seeing someone?” Oliver asks softly. He’ll admit when things happened he didn’t deal with the aftermath well back then, if at all.

“Not anymore.” Felicity clarifies quickly, her cheeks red in embarrassment. “Just, uh in the beginning...my mom she wanted me to talk about it...like she does, but when I refused she suggested I talk to John Diggle. You remember him right? His younger brother Andy was in our year in high school.”

Oliver nods but he’s more focused on the fact that she’s been talking to a therapist rather than _who_ is was. “Are you...did it...are you okay?”

Felicity wrings her fingers nervously running her hands along her midriff smoothing out her nonexistent top, it’s a nervous tick of hers and Oliver knows his question makes her uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t pry. It’s just we never talked about what happened before I left and I want to, we’re the only ones that…”

“John has been telling me for years to talk to you about it, that you’re the only one that would understand.”

“It’s not something I try and think about, or ever talk about.” Oliver admits quietly, that all too familiar ache settling in his chest.

“It took John _months_ to get me to even admit it.” Felicity confesses, her breath hitching and her eyes filling with tears.

Oliver moves to go to her, but hisses involuntarily at the stinging pain caused by the devil rabbit’s claws. His movement seems to have shattered the moment and Felicity is already wiping her eyes, her voice firmer as speaks.

“Oh! Let me get something for that. Don’t worry, Ollie had all his shots, Barry even was surprised how healthy she was for a wild rabbit.”

Oliver senses the change in subject and knows he no longer has the right to prod her for information, and to be quite honest he’s not sure if he’ll ever be ready to open that can of worms. So, instead he focuses on her other words. “You named your _female_ rabbit, Ollie? Seriously?”

“Barry thought it was funny too.” Felicity says with a smirk, first aid kit in her hands when she returns.  “She got separated from her pack...is it pack of rabbits?....school of rabbits? Anyway I found her under the steps at the back porch shivering and I rushed her to Barry. She was his very first patient, we spent days nursing her back to health.”

“So why Ollie?” Oliver asks with a grunt as she applies the antibacterial spray to his chest.

She is a little bit more forceful than normal so Oliver knows despite their civil conversation all is not okay between them. Part of him wonders if she missed him that much, that she named her rabbit after him. Unsurprisingly, Felicity smirks at him knowingly, “She hates Barry and tries to bite his hand every time he touches her. Sounds familiar uh?”

Oliver narrows his eyes at her grabbing her wrist before she daps his cut yet again, “I never _bit_ Barry.”

“No but you sure did _growl_ a lot when he was around.”

“I did _not_ . He _kissed_ you.”

“Oliver, we were 14 years old playing spin the bottle. It was the entire point of the game.”

It’s a conversation they have had for years and while the anger is long gone, this conversation usually heads towards a playful mount of teasing more from Felicity about Oliver’s jealousy of their childhood friend, but now there is just heavy bit of tension between them they had always been friends before anything else and Oliver is glad that the latent part of their friendship is still simmering somewhat. Maybe he’s been approaching this all wrong, maybe he should ignore his pride and just _talk_ her and then she’ll sign the papers.

But the moment is shattered when Oliver’s phone chirps loudly in the silent room, Felicity who is sitting next to his phone picks it up and looks blankly at the incredibly cheesy photo staring back at her and Oliver knows already who it is. She rises off the couch and offers nonchalant, “Girlfriend?”

“Not exactly.” Oliver says truthfully, Felicity only rolls her eyes and walks into the kitchen.

“Hey….I know but I dont have wifi and the service here is kinda spotty.” Oliver rubs his neck uncomfortably at the terrible lie. “The only place that has public wifi is probably the bed and breakfast….I know but I just have a lot of things to clear up here, settling some accounts it’s pretty boring stuff...no my mother would love to meet you, but I don’t think now...Of course I told her about the engagement...look can we just talk about this when I get back?”

Oliver tosses the phone onto the couch and throws his head back in defeat, this is turning into a colossal mess, and it’s entirely his fault. He never should have kept his past from McKenna in the first place.   

“So...you’re engaged.” Felicity is perched on the small counter that separates the kitchen from the living room, an ice cream cone in her hand, “and you can’t exactly marry this woman if you’re currently married to another one. It’s comforting to know I’m not the only one you lied to.”

“Bullshit.” Oliver snaps back angrily, the audacity of this woman, “I don’t have to tell you what’s going on in my life, anymore than _you_ have to tell me. All I came here for was a fucking divorce.”

“Yes, once again _you_ make a decision for both of us without consulting me, like you always do.”  

“Last I checked we were _separated_ , divorce is the next natural step. I don’t know if you were harboring some hope that I’d come back for you, but the ship sailed for any reconciliation 5 years ago.”

“Fuck you Oliver Queen.” Felicity hisses, she tosses the ice cream wrapper in the garbage and stalks off down the hallway ignoring Oliver who is following her close behind, “you want that divorce so much, maybe you should get your _fiance_ to ask me.”

With those final words she slams the bedroom door in his face and Oliver has that terrifying feeling his past and present are going to meet in an explosive way and there is nothing he can do about it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay on this chapter, I got caught up writing the one shot that never wanted to end, I'm back with this fic. Thank you all for the kind words.

Two days of living on pins and needles just waiting to get the inevitable call from McKenna but all he’s greeted with is silence. Silence from McKenna who won’t take his calls and silence from Felicity who has decided that he no longer exists. He didn’t think Felicity would last as long as two days, in the past when she gave him the silent treatment she usually caved within a few hours, more because Felicity just loves to talk, but now she’s been having more conversations with that stupid rabbit than Oliver, it’s frustrating to say the least.

His mother is of little help to him, her only advice being that he tries  _ talking _ to Felicity, but when he told her ‘you can’t reason with crazy’, she got offended and then  _ she _ was giving him the silent treatment as well.

Naturally, he goes to the next best thing, well the only other person that will listen to him and that’s Tommy Merlyn. However, instead of meeting in a bar and sharing some beers and complaining about the women in their lives - Tommy would always point out that Oliver never complained about Felicity so much so that he just always talked about her - they are at the kid’s park. Oliver is currently keeping an eye on McKayla who is pretending to be a pirate commanding a ship at the the look out tower of the play gym. 

Tommy says that Oliver doesn’t need to keep that close an eye on her, McKayla is too much of a cautious child to do anything daring, clearly taking after her mother in that respect. But Oliver fed him a line about Iris West would never forgive him if he was within 20 feet of her daughter and she so much as scraped her knee. 

Truth was Oliver just couldn’t spend too long staring at the clear grey eyes of Tommy’s son, Joey. The 10 month old is all smiles and round cheeks, anything but intimidating, but instead he’s a constant reminder to Oliver of what could have had. 

This is why he didn’t want to come back to this town, he didn’t need the constant reminder of what he lost. He sees all his friends moving on with their lives, getting married having children and he’s still living in the ghost of his past. 

He’s constantly living in what ifs of his life.

“So, who would have thought, Tommy Merlyn, stay at home dad.” Oliver teases, pushing those destructive thoughts out of his mind. 

He’s perched against the kid slide, McKayla’s little head would pop up next to him ever so often, but after the third time he was no longer startled and she lost the appeal of scaring him.

“Not my father, that’s for sure.” Tommy says dryly, his focus is on his son who is giggling happily each time Tommy gently pushes the swing, but Oliver can see the scowl on his friends face from a few feet away.

“Let me guess he’s not too happy that Iris is the one providing for your family?” 

“Basically, he thinks I should have done what you did and ran off to New York, or at least took over the car dealership from him.” Oliver winces at his friend’s words, the last thing he wants its approval from Malcolm Merlyn of all people. “No offense.”

“I guess I really do need to reevaluate my life choices, if I’m getting approval from Malcolm.” Oliver remarks. 

Growing up there was no one Oliver despised more than Malcolm Merlyn, Tommy was essentially raised by his mother until he was nine and then Malcolm hired a stay at home nanny. Watching Tommy with his kids now, Oliver is glad that poor parenting was not hereditary, and Malcolm was just an ass, like Oliver always suspected.

“Probably.”  Tommy says with a laugh, he nudges Joey’s swing gently, and turns his attention to Oliver briefly, “I heard through the grapevine that you moved back into the house?”

“Grapevine?” Oliver scoffs, “You mean your  _ wife _ told you, after she heard it from  _ my  _ wife.”

“Oh so she’s your  _ wife _ now, uh?”

“She has always  been my wife, and that’s my problem.” Oliver snaps.

“You don’t mean that.”

“No.” Oliver says with a sigh moving to sit on the large swing and Joey only smiles at him in greeting, Oliver can’t help but smile in return and holds out a finger for the baby to hold on. “I don’t know. Being back here, in that house, living with her. All these memories...these emotions are coming back and I shouldn’t be feeling them.”

“Maybe what you shouldn’t be doing is trying to jump into another marriage when you’re still trying to figure out the first one.” Tommy counters.

Oliver wants to protest, he wants to tell Tommy that he’s wrong. He wants to say that all he needs is to find a way to convince Felicity to sign the papers, but part of him wonders if he could really end an almost 30 year relationship. It’s been 5 years since he’s seen Felicity, yet within the few days he moved back into the house he felt like they slipped back into an old routine, almost as if no time has passed. Sure, they spent 90% of his stay arguing but their relationship has always been volatile, their competitive natures often clashing, and although that sometimes brought out the worst in them, it also brought out the best.

He can’t believe he’s even considering this, especially when he knows Felicity is ready to kick him to the curb as soon as she can. 

Or is she?

“Yea, I don’t think Felicity would agree with that.” Oliver quips offhandedly.

“Oliver, man. What are you doing?”

“What?”

“You’re engaged to another woman and yet you’re thinking about working things out with your current wife. What the hell are you doing?”

“I don’t know.” Oliver says defeated. 

He never expected all his feelings to come rushing back as soon as he stepped foot into Starling. He thought being an inconvenience to Felicity would get her to cave and sign the papers but he never expected that he’d get sucked back in. He never thought his past would overwhelm him so much so that it’s pulling him back in. He’s too ashamed to tell Tommy how his proposal to McKenna was an  _ accident _ of all things, but he promised himself he would at least do  _ this _ marriage right, and that began with ending his  _ current _ marriage.

“Iris was right, you two need all the help that you can get.” Tommy mutters just loud enough for Oliver to hear, but at Oliver’s curious expression Tommy just shakes his head in exasperation. Never in their lives did Oliver think  _ Tommy _ would be the one in a stable marriage and Oliver ended up in a clusterfuck of a relationship. “Okay, here’s the plan. Tomorrow at the family day carnival...”

“Tomorrow’s the carnival?” 

“Yes, that’s what I just said. Look, just try and talk to her, after she wins a few races. You know that shit is like crack for Felicity.” Tommy remarks, he then winces at his language and looks down at Joey who is giving him a wide toothy smile, drool running down his double chin. “I’m so glad you can’t talk yet, buddy. Get Felicity in a good mood and you should be set.”

“I’m not trying to S-E-X her up, Tommy.” Oliver says in exasperation, Tommy looks at him for spelling  the word, “You said she repeats everything.”

Oliver nudges his head towards McKayla,  who is now making her way back to them. “I came here to get Felicity to sign the papers it doesn’t make sense to dredge up things from the past. Maybe once she wins that silly trophy thing, she’ll be in a good enough mood.”

“Alright, it’s your life.” Tommy shakes his in disagreement, but doesn’t bother to voice what he’s thinking, and part of Oliver isn’t brave enough to ask Tommy what  _ he _ knows about Felicity’s feelings. “Just don’t call it a silly trophy to her face.”

This time Oliver laughs loudly in response, “yea, I’m not  _ that _ stupid to do that twice in one lifetime.”

“I still can’t believe she threw out your baseball timer that you spent  _ years _ getting all your favourite Mariners to sign.” 

“I was lucky she didn’t toss my ass out into the lake as well.” Oliver quips with affection.

He remembers that family day vividly, he’s pretty sure he still has the scar on the palm of his hand from being forced to do the human wheelbarrow with Felicity while hungover. 

Every year Starling has family day to raise funds for the local high school and elementary school, and everyone is paired off into teams. Whether local businesses in groups of three, two or one, couples, families or friends join in and they compete in family friendly games. From tug of war, to pop the balloon and there are trophies for the person who won the most games, the duo, or groups. Due to Felicity’s incredibly competitive nature (okay to be honest Oliver is just as bad when it comes to competitions) she and Oliver were the reigning champions for the duo trophies for 5 years. 

The very last year they competed Oliver had been to a bachelor party the night before and suffice to say he was in no condition to compete the next day, but Felicity was having none of that, not after he had promised her he’d be there. Being hungover and trying to toss an egg between himself and Felicity without breaking it, was as difficult as it sounds and he and Felicity got into a fight about it with resulted in Oliver’s prized baseball timer taking a nosedive into the lake. While Oliver would never toss out Felicity’s computers (he values his life after all), Felicity did lose her original copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

It was their very first fight as a married couple.

“Did she ever uh… win that trophy again?” Oliver asks trying to sound nonchalant at the thought of Felicity competing for the couple’s trophy with someone else.

Tommy though sees right through Oliver and only laughs in response, “No, pretty sure they still unofficially call that trophy, the ‘Olicity trophy’.”

Oliver groans at the  _ terrible _ nickname that he and Felicity were dubbed when they were in high school. Oliver can’t ignore the small smug part of him that’s grateful that she never tried to re-win that trophy with some other guy. “You’re telling me no one else beat our record?”

Tommy laughs, “No need to be so smug about it Ollie. No one in this town took that shit serious enough to win 5 fucking years in a row. Anyway, Felicity has been cleaning up the trophies in the solo category and her company has won a few as well. She and that partner of hers Curtis are pretty much the resident karaoke-ers? Barry joins them too.”

At the mention of Curtis, Oliver frowns, “So what’s the deal with Felicity and this Curtis?”

Tommy barks out a laugh at Oliver’s question and Oliver only huffs in annoyance, so Oliver’s a little jealous, it shouldn’t be  _ that _ of a surprise to Tommy, not after the conversation they just had, “Oliver, Curtis is Felicity’s business partner, he has a  _ husband _ that works with Caitlin in the clinic.”

“Oh.” 

Tommy only continues to laugh at Oliver expense while he takes his son out of the swing seat. “I really hope you figure out what you want, but we both know you need to stop pissing Felicity off if you need her to listen to you. From what Iris told me you’re not helping your cause at all.”

Tommy is not wrong and Oliver knows from experience that if he wants Felicity to listen to him, he needs back in her good graces and to do that. He needs to help her re-win that couple’s trophy that spent over half a decade on their mantel.

 

* * *

 

The next day Oliver walks confidently into the park, the place is a buzz of energy, children screams and laughter fill the large park that is filled with an assortment of bouncy castles, jungle gyms and so many different food tents. Music is blasting and as the smell of popcorn hits his nostrils he feels as though he’s stepped back in time. Nothing has changed and he can admit that it’s one of the things he loves about this small town, no matter how much time has passed some things like their traditions never changes.

He walks towards the starting booth where his sister and the hoodlum boyfriend of hers are gathered around his mother and Donna, both of whom have always organized the teams and general order of the entire games. The reason why Oliver join in these games since the age of 15 was because of his mother’s insistence and then once he and Felicity won the first duo trophy it became a thing for them.

He grins when he hears his sister currently whining to his mother about being here in the first place. He’s certain his mother probably took away his sister’s car privileges to get her here, he is well familiar with that particular tactic. 

“Oliver!” His mother smiles brightly on seeing him, “I’m so glad you made it!”

“Nice shirt, bro. Has Felicity plotted your untimely demise yet?” Thea teases whistling when she takes in Oliver’s Smoak technologies t-shirt. The medium Donna was able to give him is a little snugger that he would like, but the thumbs up his sister gives him makes him think it’s fine.

“Don’t be silly, Thea. Felicity isn’t going to kill him. I think he looks handsome in his Smoak Tech t-shirt.”  Donna says smiling at him widely and squeezing his bicep, “One week home and you don’t look peaked anymore. I told you it was just stress, Moira.”

“You do look well rested.” Moira says eying Oliver critically, she moves to pat his cheek, almost as though she’s making sure there is life in there.

When Donna begins to pat his stomach, Oliver has enough of both women’s scrutiny and pushes both their hands away, “Alright! Enough.”

Thea laughs loudly at Oliver’s expense and claps him on the shoulder, “Okay, with the prodigal son’s return that means I am no longer needed.”

“Thea, you know that’s not true.” Moira protests, but Thea is already spun on her heels waving off their mother’s calls. Moira looks at Roy but the hoodlum only shrugs his shoulders sheepishly and dutifully follows behind his sister. 

“Can we really trust that guy with her?” Oliver grunts watching their retreating figures. Roy catches up to Thea wrapping his arms around Oliver’s sister’s waist, Thea only laughing in return as she pushes him and then they chase each other until Thea tackles Roy to the floor.

“He follows her around like a little puppy dog.” Moira says with a laugh, “he’s looks a little rough around the edges, but I’m sure Thea is a worst influence on him than the other way around.”

“So you  _ did _ know about her skipping school this week then?” 

“Honey, when are you three going to learn? We’ve got eyes and ears  _ everywhere _ .” Donna’s eyes twinkle as she pats Oliver on the stomach again. “You and Felicity thought you were so clever all those years ago, but really we knew  _ exactly _ what you two were doing.”

Donna’s words give him pause and the amusement in his mother’s eyes only confuses him more. How much did they  _ really _ know?

“Alright, enough of that. Here’s your number, we thought 5 would be for good luck. Now, are you going to give Felicity her number or….” Moira trails off when she sees Oliver  _ and  _ Donna’s guilty looks. “Felicity never asked to be removed from the solo group, did she? Donna!”

“ _ You _ said they should sort things out on their own, but it’s been  _ seven _ years and  _ I _ for one am tired of seeing my baby so miserable. The universe gave me an opportunity, so I took.”

“Did the universe also tell you that Oliver is  _ engaged _ ?” Moira offers.

Oliver’s eyes widen in alarm as Donna takes a step back from him, her eyes narrowing dangerously. He turns to his mother in annoyance, “You did not tell her about McKenna?”

“No, I was waiting for  _ you _ to tell her. This is your news to tell Oliver.” 

“All these lunches together, were you just using me to get information about Felicity?” Donna asks the hurt evident in her tone and Oliver feels like the worst person in the world even if that was  _ not _ the case, well not entirely, “You told me you wanted to win this trophy for her to get back in her good books, that you were going to get back together.”

“Now hold on, I  _ am _ doing this to get back in her good books, but you assumed it was to get back together with her…” Oliver trails off when he realizes Donna is not buying the semantics, her has the sense to look guilty, “But I should have told you about McKenna from the beginning.”

“Yes you should have.” Donna’s voice stern. She then sighs her shoulders slumping as she looks and Oliver can see it takes everything in her to ask the next few questions without the animosity he  _ knows _ she’s feeling, “so, is she a nice girl? Does she treat you well? Are you happy?”

“She’s a good person.” Oliver answers truthfully, choosing to focus on the only question he can answer.

Both his mother and Moira exchange a silent look that he can’t deceiver, but then Donna picks up the piece of paper with Oliver’s number on it and offers it to him “Maybe it’s best you don’t give her the number. Moira are there any more of the solo numbers? This might have been a bad idea.”

“No, no, no.” Oliver waves her off, “This is a good idea, I really do want to play and help Felicity win back that trophy, I need to to make it up to her as well after last time.”

“Oliver, I don’t think I can approve you manipulating my daughter.” Donna says sternly her resistance doesn’t surprise Oliver given the fact that he kept McKenna from her.

“I’m not manipulating her. I promise. I want to win this for her.” Oliver insists, and it’s true, that trophy as silly as it may seem, was important to Oliver and Felicity for so many years and Oliver honestly wants to win it back for Felicity.

His mother hums, at his comment, but doesn’t say anything otherwise as she takes Felicity’s number and places it to the side, “I’ll give it to her.”

“What? Moira! I can’t believe you are condoning this, you were the one that…” When Donna trails off, Oliver looks up from his t-shirt the safety pin between his fingers. He watches both women suspiciously, but neither of them say anything only smile innocently in return.

“What are the two of you planning?” Oliver asks suspiciously, but unfortunately for him -and luckily for his mother and Moira- they are interrupted before either woman could answer.

“Oliver Queen! What are you doing? What are you wearing?” Felicity shouts as she stomps over to the small group. 

She, much like Oliver, is dressed in the moss green Smoak Tech polo-shirt and a jean shorts, her blonde hair sleek and up in one her hands on her hips. She takes one look at their matching t-shirts and spins around to face her mother, Oliver is just grateful her anger is pointed at someone else for a change. He snuck out of the house before Felicity woke up for that very reason, he knows he needed to approach her  _ after _ everything was decided otherwise she may have just skipped out on the entire family day.

“Mom, you told me you wanted the extra t-shirt cause you shrunk the last one in the dryer!” Felicity growls in frustration and spins around to glare at Oliver, she takes one look at the number 5 that’s hanging off of his t-shirt just below no the Smoak Tech logo and practically hisses, “ _ No!” _

She turns to Moira who has the matching number 5 piece of paper along with a few safety pins and glares, “This is an ambush!”

“Don’t be so dramatic.” Oliver rolls his eyes taking Felicity’s number plate, when he takes a step towards her, she in turn takes a step back a finger of warning pointing at him, “I thought we could win back our trophy.”

“There is no  _ we _ , Oliver.” Felicity says with a scoff, pointedly ignoring the offering number plate from him. She turns to Moira, “I’d like my solo number please, Oliver and I will  _ not _ be competing together.”

“Sorry, honey, you know the rules no one person can compete in more than one category unless it’s under their sponsored company as the overall group. It’s either the duo with Oliver or the overall group that everyone is automatically included in.” 

Oliver was certain his mother would be upset to be the one to break the news to Felicity, but instead she seems very pleased with herself, so much so to exchange a conspiring look with Donna, which only makes Oliver nervous. “You and Oliver can earn back that trophy of yours.”

“Yes.” Oliver says eagerly, knowing by just the mention of ‘their’ trophy Felicity’s interest may have been peaked, even just a little bit. “We can finally win back that title. I fucked up that last time, so let me make it up to you.”

He pointedly ignores his mother’s admonished tone about his language looking at Felicity expectantly, “What do you say, Felicity? For old time sake?”

“But it’s not like old times, now is it?” Felicity counters, and Oliver’s blood runs cold and although he knew there was a possibility that she no longer loved him, he’s just not ready to hear her say it out loud. He doesn’t think he’d ever be ready to hear her say that. “I don’t trust you, Oliver and there is no way I can trust you to win these races with me.”

Oliver has to bite back a sigh of relief, her not trusting him is to be expected, he can always build back her trust, but if she didn’t love him he doesn’t think there is any chance in the world for her to fall back in love with him. “C’mon Felicity, you know how important this trophy is to me as well.”

“Yea that’s what you said  _ last _ time and we got  _ disqualified _ .”

“Oh c’mon that was over 8 years ago, I was hungover and couldn’t see past my two feet you  _ knew _ that and still thought me being the human wheelbarrow was a smart idea.” Oliver counters angrily, he shouldn’t be surprised that she still resents him for that mishap, despite the fact that they made up, numerous times, if he remembers correctly.

“I told you he was drunk, Moira.” Donna chimes in.

Oliver ignores his mother’s response instead focusing on Felicity. “You know you can’t compete without me and what’s the point of playing these games if you don’t get a trophy to show for your effort?”

He’s taunting her now, using her words against her, at sixteen winning was all Felicity thought of and Oliver only hopes that is rings true still, almost 14 years later. Felicity narrows her eyes, biting her lip in thought and Oliver almost pats himself on the back for tapping into Felicity’s competitive nature.

“I’m not signing the papers if we win.” Felicity insists, “so if this is some new ploy of yours to get me to…”

“No ploy. No alternate motive.” Oliver promises, raising his hands in defense for added effect. “I like these games just as much as you do and figured we could win back that trophy one last time. What’d you say?

“I hate you.” Felicity gripes, but Oliver can tell there is no heat in her words as she yanks her number card from him. When he offers to help her pin the piece of paper to her t-shirt, she slaps his hand away glaring at him, “don’t fuck this up Oliver. I have ways to make your life living hell.”

“You already refuse to sign the divorce papers, so what else could you possibly do?” Oliver remarks sarcastically, if she plans on being cranky for the  _ entire _ thing he’s hardly going to sit back and take it.

“There is almost 3 decades worth of blackmail material in our house...my house.” Felicity corrects, stumbling a bit so much so she ducks her head to focus on pinning the last corner of her number plate on her t-shirt, but Oliver doesn’t miss the pink cheeks as she does. “With a few clicks I can send discriminating pictures to your entire contact list, business associates and current  _ fiances _ included.”

When she looks back at him, her cheeks are no longer pink and there's a fire in her eyes that tells him it’s  _ not _ an empty threat, “I’m pretty sure 90% of those pictures you’re  _ in _ them with me.”

Felicity is just about to snap back a witty retort, of that Oliver has no doubt, but Donna throws her arms both of their shoulders tugging them towards her much to both of their protests, “Alright, kids enough of that. The three legged race is supposed to be starting in a few minutes.”

“ _ Mom _ , we’re not kids anymore.” Felicity whines pushing away from her mother gently. She then turns to Oliver and glares, “don’t be late at the starting point.”

“Or what?” Oliver counters grinning as the scowl deepens on her face, “you can’t exactly win a  _ three _ legged race without me. Unless there is something you want to tell me?”

“Fuck you, Oliver.”

“If you’re trying to win her back, you really should try and not anger her so much.” His mother warns him as they watch Felicity’s retreating figure.

Oliver is about to protest at her words, but Donna is already tugging him along, “don’t worry, my baby knows a good thing when she sees it. You just can’t give up on her, now go win her back.”

Of course their mothers would still be pushing this. Oliver was naive to think that they would have given up once they both knew he had a fiance, in fact he probably walked right into their plans without even realizing it. However, the greatest flaw in their plans is that they underestimate just how stubborn Felicity can truly be and it’s going to take a  _ lot _ for Oliver to win her over.

Not that he  _ wants _ to win her over, perse. 

Well not exactly.

Firstly, he needs to win back Felicity’s trust and these games are just the way to do it, or so he hopes. 

Let the games begin.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know its been MONTHS. I apologize for the delay but I had two other fics that I wanted to try and finish before I tackled this fic....I was able to finish one, but my hopes is to juggle this and my other fic. This fic is entirely planned out start to finish I just need to find the time to write it. If everything goes according to plan this fic should be about 15 chapters or so.
> 
> Special thanks to Jo and Denise who have been the best kind of nags to get me to finish this chapter

“Felicity would you stop squirming and let me tie the damn thing?” Oliver all but growls as Felicity shifts away from him yet again, allowing the ribbon around their calves to slip once again.

 

“How do I know you aren't just going to sabotage this make it so that we  _ do _ lose?” Felicity snaps grumpily nudging her foot away from Oliver yet  _ again. _

 

_ “ _ You tie it then!” Oliver grumbles slowly regretting this decision. When he's in her good books Felicity is usually a nightmare but now with her not trusting him it's just unbearable. 

 

He plops onto the grass and because their calves are still somewhat tied Felicity comes tumbling down next to him and Oliver tries to hold back his laughter but the moment Felicity slaps him on the shoulder he bursts into laughter not seeing the point of holding back if she’s already being violent.

 

“You great big giant.” Felicity grumbles she slaps his calf. “Stand up so I can tie it properly.”

 

“If you’re going to be a grump for this entire thing you’re just gonna suck all the fun out of it,” Oliver warns.

 

“Yes well I came here today to maintain my first place in the solo competition and instead I find out that you conspired  with our mothers to force us to play together. We don't always get what we want Oliver.” 

 

Oliver only rolls his eyes deciding staying quiet may be the best thing for both of them. He gets to his feet standing still as Felicity ties their ankles together and then the midpoint of his calf and right below her knee. Her nails are painted a deep green much like their Smoak Tech t-shirts, even the hair band in her ponytail is the same colour and Oliver only grins in amusement. 

 

“What are you smiling at?” Felicity asks with narrowed eyes.

 

“Mrs. Finnigan is still here to win her oldest athlete trophy.” Oliver says quickly nodding her head to the little Irish woman that always came out and played she only ever took part in the walking race and almost every year the town cheers her on when she wins the slowest racer.

 

Felicity smiles at the little old lady in question who is currently stretching despite the fact her race is not for a few hours. Felicity then looks down at their bound legs and scowls as though only now realizing where she is and who she is with. “Don't fuck this up Queen.”

 

“Lead the way,  _ Queen.”  _ Oliver says over dramatically even bowing to her knowing it would piss her off, and sure enough she grumbles a few expletives as she yanks her leg and thereby  _ Oliver  _ towards the starting line. 

 

Oliver raises his arm to put on her shoulder so they could walk more comfortable but Felicity sends him a death glare and he in turn raises his arms in defense not bothering to point out to her that it would be easier to walk if they just walked in sync.

 

They get to the starting line and Felicity nudges Oliver to the side with her shoulder, a pointless feat giving the fact that they are attached at the leg. 

 

“In then out?” Oliver asks knowing that they need some kind of plan, he's done this enough with Felicity to know how anal she can be about these competitions.

 

“Just follow me.” Felicity grumbles.

 

Oliver is about to protest but Barry Allen, Starling’s veterinarian, rings the loud bell signalling the beginning of the race.

 

Felicity takes off in a dash, or at least she tries to but because she's  _ attached _ to Oliver she only jerks back when he steps forward with his unbound leg.

 

“Oliver, what are you doing?” Felicity yells in frustration trying to shuffle forward with her unbound leg.

 

“I'm trying to walk! Felicity this is a  _ three _ legged race you can't just try and drag me to the finish line! Let's just move in then out. In. Out. Oh for fucks sake woman stop being so damn stubborn!” 

 

“Don't yell at me. I'm trying to get us win this and you won't move your massive body. Is this all muscle? What the hell Oliver?”

 

Oliver would have laughed at the way she grips his thigh trying to figure out if it's all muscle, but they are currently trailing behind the group and if they want to qualify for the next round they need to come in at least 5th. So he wraps his arm around her waist and hoist her up just enough so that her feet are just barely touching the floor and he takes off. 

 

Felicity naturally protesting angrily in response, “Oliver let me go! You are cheating! We are going to get disqualified, you ass!”

 

“Your feet are still touching the floor.” Oliver growls just as they cross the finish line coming in fifth. 

 

Felicity tries to shove him away but Oliver he holds onto her tightly knowing she would end up hurting herself because they are still attached at their legs.  

 

He bends over to untie their legs, ignoring Felicity as she slaps his broad back in protest. He's not even sure what's she's protesting about now. They made the cut, and he's untying them, what else is there to complain about?

 

“Did you take some crazy pills this morning?” Oliver all but growls tossing the ties at her, “You’re being even more insane than normal. If you want to win this thing you have to stop going against me  _ every _ single time. We’ve done these races  a  _ dozen _ of times together, we know how to work together as a team.”

 

“That’s the problem though Oliver, we are no longer a team.” Felicity says with a deep sigh, she doesn’t wait for Oliver to protest and simply walks away. 

 

Oliver is beginning to wonder if he’s going about this in the wrong way.

 

“I don’t think I have to tell you this, but her actions tell a different story than her words.” An unfamiliar voice calls out pulling Oliver from his thoughts.

 

Oliver turns to his left and sees a tall large man dressed in jeans and a simple black t-shirt, one of those baby bibs that Oliver saw Tommy with earlier, is draped over each shoulder, one pink and blue. But the man is completely unfamiliar to Oliver, and it annoys Oliver even more that the man seems to know Felicity as well as Oliver  _ use _ to know her.

 

“Do we know each other? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure I’d know the guy who claims to know my wife so well.” Oliver all but growls possessively. He knows that he has no right to talk like that, and he’s only voicing this because Felicity is far,  _ far _ away of hearing range.

 

The older man only chuckles, he has a pacifier clasped between his fingers and spins it around his thumb, it’s a stark contrast the to sheer size of this man. Oliver is almost certain that one of the man’s biceps makes up  _ both _ of his. 

 

Oliver wonders briefly if this is the Curtis, Felicity spoke of, the  _ boyfriend _ . The man in question laughs again, no doubt seeing the way Oliver stands tall and tries to size him up.

 

“I’m pretty sure, Felicity would kill you for saying that.” The man chuckles in amusement, “Well she’d threaten it, but we both know Felicity says a lot of things but does not actually  _ mean _ it, when she’s angry.”

 

“Who  _ are _ you?”  Oliver all but growls

 

“John Diggle.” The man says holding his hand out, and Oliver’s entire demeanour changes at the familiar name as he shakes John’s hand in greeting.

 

“You’re the therapist.” Oliver deduced. He licks his lips unsure what to say to the man that Felicity has opened up to about all the things Oliver wished she had talked to  _ him _ about.

 

“Unofficially.” John says with a nod, 

 

He looks across the park, and Oliver follows his gaze to see Felicity chatting with Iris West-Merlyn. Both of Tommy’s children are with her, McKayla is running around Felicity in circles, telling Felicity some tale or the other and Oliver can see the way Felicity nods animatedly at the child taking her in, all the while carrying on a conversation with Iris. Both women are speaking to each other, baby Joey has his arms stretched out to Felicity eagerly and Oliver’s heart clenches as she takes him with ease spinning around with the baby in her arms and Joey laughs excitedly in return.

 

Oliver looks away, his fingers clenching as he tries to calm his beating heart. The image is ingrained in his memory though, so looking away is for naught.

 

“Felicity still comes to me ever so often, when she needs an ear to listen. Most times it’s over a big belly burger, and she just needs unbiased advice.” John Diggle continues, acutely aware of Oliver’s reaction, but choosing to not say anything, for which Oliver is grateful.

 

Felicity might be okay with talking to a complete stranger about their issues, but Oliver is  _ not _ in the slightest. But Oliver’s curiosity gets the best of him and he turns to look at the taller man, “Has she….has she spoken to you since….”

 

“Since came stomping back into her life with no warning, demanding things from her that she’s buried for almost 7 years now?” 

 

“I’m not  _ demanding _ things!” Oliver protests, despite the fact that he knows he hasn’t exactly  _ asked _ Felicity nicely, but to  be fair, when he  _ tried _ that five years ago, he got a box of pot pourri divorce papers.

 

“See I told Felicity this was always the problem the two of you, you both clearly have two different interpretation of events and yet you refuse to speak to each other to know what the other is thinking.” Diggle says in knowing realization, almost as though by the few short words he and Oliver has exchanged, he’s suddenly figured out Oliver and Felicity’s entire relationship.

 

“What did she say?” Oliver demands angrily.

 

“Patient-Therapist confidentiality.” the good doctor supplies, irritating Oliver even more, “if you want to know what she said, you’ll have to talk to your  _ wife _ about it.”

 

The dig is not lost to Oliver and he can only growl in annoyance in return, this complete strange, much like his parents, Tommy, his sister, his sister’s stupid boyfriend...they all seem to think  _ they _ know how to fix Oliver’s broken relationship with Felicity.

 

_ This _ . This is why Oliver hates this godforsaken small town,  _ everyone _ seems to think they have a say in Oliver’s relationship like they are fucking public property.

 

“Thanks for that, doc. But, if I ever want your opinion I’ll give you a call.” Oliver says sarcastically before he begins to make his way back to the starting line of the races.

 

“Word of advice, Queen?” The older man offers and while Oliver does not turn to look at him, Oliver can’t help but falter his steps as he waits for the man to continue. “Stop listening to her words, and start looking at her actions.”

 

If this wasn’t a family gathering, Oliver would have turn around and flipped the man off, instead he stalks over to the race area and plops onto a the grass, his anger boiling as he waits for the next race, ignoring the buzzing people around him. 

 

The good doctor, knows nothing of the current state of Oliver and Felicity’s relationship. He doesn’t know that Felicity all but said she wouldn’t sign the papers just because he wants it so badly. He doesn’t know that she’s been demanding that he get out of her house since Oliver arrived. 

Oliver seems to forget the one small detail in Felicity’s demands, if Felicity truly wanted him out of the house she would have tossed out his things and change the locks. Felicity is anything but  _ passive _ if she wants something she goes for it, which is why  _ she _ was the one to proposed to him...the first time around that is.

 

If Oliver wasn’t so consumed by his anger at the nosy people in small town Starling, he would have realized that maybe Felicity’s refusal to sign the divorce papers had nothing to do with her claims of wanting to annoy him.

* * *

 

When Felicity meets him in time for the next race, Oliver is still stewing over the therapist words, over everything everyone has been telling him since he returned to this small microscope of a down. If he wasn’t so consumed in his own anger he would have noticed the tentative smile on Felicity’s face as she walked up to in a stark contrast to her attitude in their last race.

 

“Ready to crawl our way into first?” Felicity quips jokingly.

 

“You’re really gonna make me be the wheelbarrow again?” Oliver grunts out angrily, “Did forget how fucking terrible that went?”

 

“I didn’t mean…” Felicity trails off, and a scowl slowly makes it way on her face, “ I was going to offer to be the wheelbarrow, seeing as you clearly have more upper arm strength, but you know what if you’re going to be this snippy about it. I’ll just do it, I don’t trust you to get us to the end of the line, especially since I’ll be blind folded.”

 

“Alright, if you want to fuck this one up like last time.” Oliver remarks, huffing when Felicity tosses the gloves at him, just narrowly missing his head, and Oliver suspect it’s more to do with Felicity’s lack of coordination, than her  _ not _ wanting to hit him.

 

“Well you aren’t drunk now, so we don’t have to stop every two seconds for you to throw up.”

 

“I wasn’t  _ drunk _ I was hungover and you  _ knew _ that and  _ that’s _ why you made m be the wheelbarrow, cause you were punishing me for losing the other three races  _ before _ that.” 

 

“Just put on the fucking gloves, last time you forgot that and I had to spend the evening fishing gravel out of your palms.” Felicity scowls with a huff and Oliver hates that she’s right, he remembers all too well that night they spend sitting on the bathroom floor as Felicity pulled out numerous pieces of gravel from his hands. He’s certain she was more forceful than she needed to be given the fact that they weren’t speaking to each other after they lost the trophy. “I won’t be so inclined this time.”

 

“Yes,” Oliver grumbles as he yanks on the gloves, the committee that is in charge of the games usually provides gloves but the likelihood of the gloves actually fitting properly is usually rare. “I can see why you want to stay married, so that you can watch me suffer.”

 

“You figured out my master plan.” Felicity replies sarcastically, “That’s why I  _ gave _ you the gloves.”

 

Oliver clamps at her words, if she actually wanted him to suffer, she would have just hid the gloves.

 

“Hey Lucy and Ricky, you two about done so that we can start this thing?” Cisco Ramon, one of the science teachers at the local high school, stands at the starting line, where all the other teams were waiting for Oliver and Felicity.

 

“Let’s get this over with.” Felicity grumbles making her way to the starting line. 

 

“Fun, Fun, Fun.” Oliver mutters under his breath as he takes a step in front of her, he places his hands on on the floor, and waits for Felicity to grab his legs. When she doesn’t, he huffs, “Felicity?”

 

He goes to look behind him to see what’s taking her so long, but Felicity takes hold of both of his legs, so he has to focus on balancing on his arms. 

 

“I was calculating the length of your body with the distance of the race and how fast we’d need to go.” Felicity remarks, her voice has lost its edge though, and she sounds slightly flustered, and Oliver wonders what she was doing that she got so distracted.

 

“You’re the brains of the operation.” Oliver quips, smiling despite himself, echoing words he use to say to her every time they teamed up for something. Be it one of these races, or just trying to sneak out of their houses to have some alone time together.

 

“And you’re the brawn.” Felicity surprises him when she echoes her usual comment in return, he can tell she’s rattle by her automatic response when one of his legs almost slip between her fingers, “Definitely the brawn...is this really all muscle?”

 

Oliver smirks, even more so when she  _ squeezes _ his calves, this is the second time she’s done that, he knows despite their mothers commenting on him looking  _ peaked _ he has been working out more since his mother’s wedding, he found boxing was a good outlet for his stress and helping getting over well, Felicity.

“Players get your wheelbarrows ready!” Cisco calls out with an excited clap. 

 

Felicity tightens her hold on Oliver’s calves just as the whistle blows, she shifts so that it he’s stretched out, “Put my heels on your shoulders!” 

 

“This way we cover more distance!” Felicity protest with a grunt when she lets go of his ankle, but quickly grabs it up, Oliver knows her hands are too small to wrap around his ankles, and his legs are slipping ever so often.

 

“If you put my heels on your shoulders, you would be able to carry my weight better!” Oliver yells, but he knows she probably can’t hear or if she does, she just doesn’t take him on, which is what happens when Oliver’s legs continue to slip all along the entire race.

 

He tries to get traction with his arms,to almost go into a handstand to get them moving, but Felicity’s inability to hold his weight is also throwing off his balance.

 

“Oliver stop raising your legs like that!” Felicity grumbles fingernails digging into Oliver’s bare flesh making him wince.

 

When they finally do cross the finish line the only reason they just barely come in 5th, is because two teenagers ran into another pair and both couples were out of the running for most of the game.

 

“So is the goal for today to just  _ not _ win  _ any _ of the races?” Oliver all but growls as he gets to his feet, tossing his gloves and blindfold into the bucket.

 

“If you would just  _ listen  _ to me…”

 

“Oh no you can't blame me for this one.” Oliver cuts her off, “I was blindfolded and just following your direction  _ you _ were the one that insisted I be the wheelbarrow when we both know it  _ always  _ works best when I carry you. You’re the brains in this operation Felicity you and I both know that, but if you don't start trust me to work together we’re never going to win this trophy.”

 

With those final words  _ Oliver  _ is the one to walk away this time. Maybe things are still too fresh for them to be working so closely together again.

 

* * *

 

 

When the time comes for the next race, Oliver is exhausted and he just has no more fight in him to argue with Felicity, he’s just going to ask her point blank if she still wants to compete together, or just call it quits from now, no use they waste their entire day bickering. 

 

Felicity though surprises him however, when she carries the small egg holder with two handles that they use for the egg race, as well as a  _ large _ slushi cup filled with bright red liquid and ice.  The summer heat has being particularly brutal today and the plastic cup is covered with a layer of precipitation, it has never looked more inviting to Oliver.

 

“I come with a peace offering.” Felicity says with a sheepish smile, she kicks the tip of her sneakers into the dust, her cheeks are red as she offers the cup to Oliver, “You were right, if we want to win this thing I have to start listening to you.”

 

Oliver eyes the offered cup warily but takes it nonetheless accepting the olive branch. He takes a sip of the icy cold sweet beverage and sighs  at the familiar taste.

 

“Still tastes the same like when we were kids right?” Felicity asks in amusement, smiling at his blissful expression.

 

Oliver offers her the drink, she bites her lip in uncertainty, they’ve always shared drinks and food, ever since they were kids, in fact his mother has a grainy video of  both of them sitting in his crib sharing a bottle of milk, the other  _ full _ bottle sits on the opposite side of the crib, but neither of them seemed to care, more content to pass the bottle between the two of them.

 

Oliver is just about to pull back the offered cup, but Felicity surprises him by taking the cup and taking a large slurp from it, she winces pressing her fingertips against her temple.

 

“Brain freeze?” Oliver asks unnecessarily with a short laugh. Felicity always did this when she took some of his food, she’d take much more than she  _ should _ and as kids he use to get so upset at her for taking his food and drinks. He’d always laugh when she ended up getting a brain freeze in her haste, they both knew she took more than she should just to annoy him.

 

“It always it taste better when it was yours.” Felicity says with small laugh, eyes twinkling as their eyes meet. She takes another sip, this time in a more reasonable amount.

 

She pauses mid sip though when her words catch up with her, she looks away and they settle into an awkward silence. Three decades of friendship and love and they have never sat in such awkward silence, not even when they were 12 and Felicity got her first period and Oliver thought she was dying and was ready to call 911 until Felicity had to explain it to him. 

 

When you know someone all their lives, it’s impossible to get awkward around them, but yet here they are and Oliver  _ hates _ it.

 

“So egg race next?” Oliver offers as he takes back the slushi. He nods at the egg holder in Felicity’s other hand.

 

“Yup.” Felicity answers, her lips popping at the end of the word as she spins around in her spot, her gaze anywhere but Oliver.

 

Oliver is just about to ask her about their strategy for this game, try and break the awkward ice that is more the size of a glazier, but there is a loud whistle that signifies that the next set of races are about to begin.

 

Oliver gets to his feet and he takes the offered handle from Felicity. Their eyes lock as they hold this homemade contraption that is suppose to balance two eggs, but Felicity quickly looks away and trains her gaze on the obstacle course in front of them. Not only do they have to balance these two eggs as they walk to the finish line, but they also have to get past the various obstacles of logs, old tires and other things that make balancing two eggs even that more difficult. The people who run the Starling family day really take team work to another level with some of these races.

 

Oliver and Felicity, however, are veterans with these kind of games.

 

The moment the whistle blows to signal the start of the game Oliver focuses on the two eggs that are precariously balancing on the egg holder. He can see the green of Felicity’s nail polish sparkling in the sunlight as her fingers tighten around the handle 

 

“What's the first thing?” Felicity calls out stersely.

 

Oliver is so thrown by her question he looks up from the eggs only to see that  _ Felicity  _ is also looking down at the eggs which means neither of them are looking at the obstacle course.

 

“Felicity! You’re suppose to be looking at the course!” Oliver growls turning his head to left just in time to see they are at the series of logs coming up. “Logs!” 

 

“What? No! I look at the eggs and you look at the course! I'm farsighted Oliver I can't see long distances very well without my glasses!”  Felicity grumbles, “you know that!”

 

“But you always looked.. _ log _ ...I specifically remember you... _ log _ ...navigating..log...” Oliver calls out slightly breathless, each time he called out log their both raises their arms in sync as they stepped over the log.  But as he says those words he tries to think back on his role in this race, Felicity uses her glasses for reading, he's pretty she can see far stuff without her glasses…but things are kind of distorted when she does wear her glasses.

 

Crap she was right, Oliver is so put off at not remembering this detail that he doesn't see the small ditch in the course causing him to stumble. To his horror the carefully balanced egg goes tumbling to the side and falls to the ground with a resounding crack.

 

“ _ Oliver!”  _ Felicity streaks as they come to a halt, her egg is still balanced somewhat steadily on her side. “I told you to look at the course! I can't even trust you for one stupid game .” 

 

She grabs her egg before it can fall and stops back to the starting line where a few other teams suffered the same fate. 

 

“Your hand slipped!” Oliver protests, which is so far away from the truth he should have been ashamed, the moment Felicity blue eyes narrows at him Oliver regrets his snippy response immediately,

 

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Felicity all but screeches, 

 

There are a small group of 5 year olds including McKayla Merlyn looking at the pair with wide eyes, he and Felicity are definitely starting to attract a crowd with their arguing.

 

“You're the one that said you’d watch the eggs!” Oliver continues digging herself deeper

 

“And  _ you _ are suppose to watch the course so that we know where we’re going!” Felicity points out in frustration she then growls angrily so much so that a few of the kids that are watching them take a step back. Oliver wishes he could do the same he can already tell this is not going to end well for him, “Oliver Jonas Queen you are so damn hardheaded! You make me wanna...‍” 

 

Instead of finishing her sentence though she takes the egg that's in her hand and  _ throws _ it at Oliver. It lands against his chest with a loud crack and Oliver can feel the wet liquid seeping through his t-shirt.

 

“Seriously?” Oliver bellows in disbelief a few of the kids giggle loudly in amusement.

 

The gangling teenager that has been handing out eggs stands a few feet away an egg in her offered hand but she looks as though she wishes she was anywhere but next to Oliver and Felicity. Oliver though ceases the opportunity and grabs the the egg from the teenagers hand ignoring her soft yelp in surprise.

 

Felicity seems to be aware of how out of line she was and her eyes are wide in horror as she sees Oliver with the egg, “on't you dare Oliver. You don't really want to stoop to my level do you?”

 

Oliver pauses for a moment, is it really wise to fight fire with fire? But then he looks at Felicity and sees the slight twinkle in her eye, he can tell the laughter is just dying to bubble out  and with that final look he raises his hand and smashes the egg on her head, egg shells now tangled in her ponytail. Egg yolk oozes down her scandalized face.

 

“Oliver! I can't believe you did that!” She splutters she goes to grab another egg but the lanky teenager pulls the tray of eggs protectively behind her.

 

A whistle blows and Cisco comes running up to them waving a red flag at them. The universal symbol to know that they have been disqualified from this race.

 

“Save it Cisco we know we know.” Felicity grumbles angrily trying to get the egg out of her hair but failing greatly. “Fuck you Oliver Queen.”

 

There are a series of gasps around them and Oliver winced when he remembers the small crowd of kids that have been watching them bicker. 

 

He can see Felicity’s shoulders slump at that and she looks up at the sky and takes a deep breath. It makes him hold  _ his _ breath cause he knows he's about to get an earful.

 

To Oliver's surprise though she doesn't look across at him in anger but apologetically, “I probably should have expected that after what I did and how much I’ve been fighting you since we started the games. I'm sorry.”

 

Oliver splutters not expecting the apology, “I probably shouldn't have cracked that in your hair.”

 

“It's gonna take forever to get out.” Felicity bemoans tugging at the edges of her egg soaked ponytail.

 

“I'll help you get it out.” Oliver promises, wincing slightly when he looks down at his egg soaked shirt.

 

“C’mon I should have an extra shirt in my jeep.”  Felicity says gesturing for him to follow her to the makeshift car park. 

 

Felicity pops the trunk and offers Oliver a hot pink Smoak Technologies polo shirt and grins at Oliver’s disgruntled expression. 

 

“It's the only one I have that would fit.” She says with a shrug not at all sorry.

 

Oliver rolls his eyes but instead of getting rid of his shirt he takes a step toward her and slowly begins plucking out the egg shells from her hair. He isn't aware of his close proximity until he hears her sharp intake of breath.

 

He tries to catch her eye, but she looks away, instead moves slightly to the mirror that's hanging on the trunk of her jeep. She winces when she looks at her reflection, grimacing as she tries to grab her hair band but it's covered in egg yolk.

 

“ _ Ew.”  _ Felicity squeals slightly.

 

“It's just egg.” Oliver says with a laugh, he slaps her hand lightly away and goes about tugging at her hairband. “Despite how you’ve treated eggs in the past with your inability to cook a simple omelette. The egg is not going to get back at you.”

 

“I feel like it is latching into my hair follicle and refuses to let go.” Felicity bemoans.

 

“Relax, eggs aren't like grease it's easier to get out just with a little of water.” Oliver promises. He's had enough mishaps in his kitchen to know how to deal with stubborn egg yolk.  

 

He gets Felicity hair free and cards his fingers through her tangled blond locks trying to get as much of the egg out as possible. Almost all of the egg shells seem to have gone, thankfully.

 

She may be in a better mood now, but he knows that she will raise hell if he can't get the egg of out her hair.

 

He eyes the water bottles in the back of her jeep and without thinking about it- which in hindsight he really should have- Oliver grabs the bottle water and pours the entire content over Felicity’s head.

 

So maybe a tiny, petty part of him is still upset with her for all the shot she gave him today.

 

“Oliver!” Felicity bellows as she splutters as water drips down her face, “are you insane? Didn’t I  _ just _ apologized for being childish and you...you threw water at me!”

 

“I didn't  _ throw _ water at you, I told you, you needed water to get the egg out of your hair.” Oliver says cheekily. 

 

“ _ Oh _ well if water is the  _ only _ way to get the egg out,  _ chef  _ Queen…” her eyes are twinkling with mischief 

 

Oliver already knows what she has planned and this time he doesn't stand there in horror but just shuts his eyes right before Felicity opens  _ her _ bottle of water splattering him with water.

 

“Well it's no fun if you’re enjoying it.” Felicity huffs with a pout. 

 

Oliver only chuckles in return. “We’ve had fights with more unforgiving foods.”

 

He thinks about their first fight as a married couple and Oliver had a shitty day at the diner only to come home to see Felicity had burnt one of his favourite frying pans trying to make an omelet. He was irrationally upset especially given the fact that she replaced it and it started off as a petty food fight that ended up with them experimenting with caramel on their kitchen floor  _ and  _ countertop. It took them twice as long to clean his kitchen after that.

 

He can see the way her gaze goes unfocused and there is a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips and he wonders is she is recalling the same moment or if she was thinking of another instance.

 

They had  _ many _ fights over the years and with the exception of that fatal one 7 years ago they always seem to find their way back to each other. 

 

While Felicity reminisces Oliver tugs off his partially soaked tshirts rolling it up so the egg and wet side isoniazid the inside. He takes the partially dry end and moves to Felicity wiping away the water that is still streaming down her face. 

 

He gently brushes away the last of the egg shells that he missed, and tentatively runs his fingers through her hair making sure he’s got all of it. 

 

Felicity is uncharacteristically quiet at his ministrations and Oliver looks down to see that her eyes are trained on his naked torso, her fingers hovering between them. Oliver breath hitches when he sees her hand move towards him, his own hands freeze on the tips of her head. 

 

But Felicity seems to catch herself just before he fingers graze the pink scar on the right torso, his jeans are hanging low on his hips enough that she can only see part of the scar.

 

He tosses the wet t-shirt to the back of her car and places his hand on her shoulder squeezing it. “It's from my appendectomy last year.”

 

Felicity licks her lips and then  despite her better judgement Oliver is sure, she runs the tip of her finger against the rough contours of Oliver's scar.

 

“Your Mom told me about it last year. She said you had a bad reaction to the anesthesia and you were in a coma for 24 hours... I booked a flight out to New York that day.”

 

“You came for….to New York?” Oliver chokes out in surprise, “I didn't see you.”

 

“I bought the ticket, checked in and everything. Then your mom called to tell me you woke up and the doctors said you’ll make a full recovery you were just allergic to the anesthesia something they couldn't foresee. I thought maybe that was the universe's way of telling me maybe I shouldn't go to New York. Both of our mothers were disappointed in me for not getting on that plane. They tried to convince me to go when Moira got the call about your surgery the first time.”

 

“Why didn't you?” Oliver asks softly, his mouth suddenly dry, he never knew she actually bought a ticket that she was steps away from boarding a flight to come see  _ him.  _

 

_ “ _ With the way we left things I figured you wouldn't want to see me.” Felicity confesses she looks up at him her eyes slightly watery, her entire palm is now flat against his torso. Her voice is soft a stark contrast to the way she shrugs her shoulder as though she's trying to brush off her next words as a joke but they are anything but, “seven years too late I guess?”

 

Oliver breath catches in his throats at her words, he runs his plan down their arm squeezing her hand, “Felicity you could never….”

 

_ “Two Blind Mice starts in ten minutes. Ten minute call teams!”  _

 

Barry Allen’s voice booms over the park’s intercoms pulling Oliver and Felicity from their moment. Felicity pulls her hand back and takes a visible step away from Oliver. 

 

“You should go to the starting line so they know we’re still taking part.”

 

“Felicity.” Oliver protests, he wants them to finish this conversation. He  _ needs _ them to finish this conversation.

 

Felicity though turns her back on him and grabs the previously abandoned Smoak Technologies tshirt. She tosses it to him refuses to meet his eyes, “Go. I've got to change into a new shirt. I'll meet you at the starting line.”

 

She turns her back again and Oliver knows that he has been dismissed. 

 

For now. 

  
He makes a silent promise to himself that they will  _ finally _ have this conversation, no matter what.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know. I know. Its been NINE MONTHS. Since I last updated this, a whole ass baby could have been born. I KNOW. I apologize for the endless wait for this chapter. I do hope to have updates a little bit more frequently, or at least not another 9 months between chapters. If you're still sticking around for this, bless your soul. If you're new I hope you enjoy it. I do have this fic planned out, and its about at the halfway point now.

“Please tell me you did not sleep with Oliver Queen.” Iris West-Merlyn remarks dryly as she approaches Felicity.

 

The high Felicity was currently experienced deflates almost immediately at her best friends words, “What? No! Why would you think that and when the hell would we have that kind of time to do that while we were  _ kicking ass?” _

 

She can hear the judgement in her friends tone, she knows Iris would not let this go, but Felicity refuses to let her friend kill her buzz.

 

“Uh I’m not blind Felicity, Oliver threw an  _ egg _ in your face, you two went off for 20 minutes and then you come back and all of a sudden you are this well oiled machine? I know how the infamous Oliver and Felicity dance goes. You two fight, you have angry sex, he leaves and then you end up with your heartbroken. Rinse and repeat.”

 

Felicity scowls angry at her friend’s words, “nothing happened, Iris! We just decided to put our differences aside to win the trophy… which FYI we totally did.”

 

“Are you sure?” Iris asks dubiously, which only irritates Felicity more, of course she would know if she slept with her estranged husband or not, “last time we talked you were complaining about hot Oliver looked fixing the patio. We both know a shirtless lumberjack Oliver Queen has always been your weakness.”

 

“Yes.” Felicity agrees because she has a pulse for one, and another it makes no sense lying to her best friend, “but that was before I found out said lumberjack is an  _ engaged _ lumberjack.”

 

“Engaged?” Iris all but shouts, at which Felicity glares angrily, Iris takes a step towards Felicity lowering her voice,“Are you sure? Since when? Did Moira say anything? Are you sure he’s not just saying that  to get you to sign the papers”

 

Felicity bites her lip, her heart still clenches at the thought despite the fact that she knows she should not care, “nope, straight from the lumberjacks mouth.”

 

“Oh Felicity.” Iris says sympathetically she goes to grab felicity’s hand but Felicity only shakes her head, biting her lip refusing to let her emotions get the best of her especially not in the middle of Starling annual family day

 

“It’s fine.” Felicity insists, ignoring Iris’s skeptical expression, “it’s what you’ve been saying for years right? That Oliver and I needed to finally move on. It was obviously going to happen, I mean I dated Aaron a few years ago? Albeit a short time, it’s not fair to think that he didn’t either.”

 

“Yea, but it’s one thing if you two are seeing other people - after all before he left, you were each other’s first  _ everything _ . First kiss, first love, first time- than to know that Oliver moved on enough to get  _ engaged. _ That’s a lot.” Iris counters and Felicity wishes her best friend would just stop talking.

 

Felicity  _ knows _ all of these things, she doesn’t need Iris to tell her that she is finally going to have to put the final nail in an almost 15 year relationship.

 

“Look it doesn’t matter,” Felicity dismisses when it’s anything  _ but _ and what’s worse is Felicity knows that Iris can tell immediately that Felicity is lying. “I just want to focus on winning the trophy, tomorrow I’ll sign those stupid paper of his and he’ll go back to that concrete jungle he loves so much and I won’t have to see him again.”

 

“Felicity.”

 

“Iris, I really don’t want to talk about it.” Felicity says with finality and for once her best friends heeds her earning and just nods in agreement. 

 

Felicity just knows that Iris is going shelf this conversation for another time or day, but luckily for Felicity, Iris is distracted by her whirlwind daughter who is covered in dirt her pigtails barely holding it together as she runs towards them and endless bound of energy

 

“Aunty Felicity! I dids a handstand all on my owns!” McKayla yells loudly, swatting away her mother’s hand when Iris tries to wipe some of the dried mud from her cheek. “Watch!”

 

She proceeds to throw herself hands first onto the muddy floor, little feet going up in the air, and sure enough she’s upside down, Iris’ eyes are wide as she takes a cautious step towards her daughter but claps in excitement for McKayala, “baby! That amazing!”

 

“I dids it Mommy!” McKayla screams excitedly dancing around both women, their precious conversation forgotten for the time being.

 

* * *

 

Oliver’s fingers twitch at his side, his thumb rubbing against his index finger, his body strumming with nerves as he keeps one eye on the group of judges that are currently tabulating the scores for the trophies. He looks to his left, Felicity still in his line of  vision as she talks animatedly with Iris and Dinah Drake, Starling’s sherif. Dinah is stressed in her  jean shorts and customary light blue sherif shirt, but she been more taking part in the activities than actually on duty. Oliver is still surprised they even still have a sheriff. He and Tommy were the only ones in the entire town that actually had a run in with the law, and Old man West had an unorthodox way of handing out punishments for he and Tommy when they would test their boundaries breaking the rules.

 

A smile tugs on the corner of Oliver’s lips as he watches Felicity not so subtly try and pull the two women closer to the judges, no doubt trying to spy. She was the reason why they went back to old paper and pen to tabulate the results after one year their computer program just started calculating the results on their own. Felicity had made a code that allowed the judges to put in the results for each race and by the end of the last race everything was already presented to the judges before the racers could even catch their breath. But then Helena Bertanelli accused Felicity’s program of cheating and favouring her and Oliver’s team and they stopped using Felicity’s program and went back to the ‘barbaric’ way of tallying scores...or at least that how Felicity explained it to Oliver all those years ago. She was convinced Helena only did that because she was not so secretly in love with Oliver and thus hated Felicity by default. Oliver suspects Felicity was right but not that he ever told er that.

 

“So, did you spike her slushie or something?” An amused voice calls out, pulling Oliver from his thoughts.

 

Oliver tears his eyes away from Felicity to look at Tommy curiously, baby Joey is happily gumming on a large rubber key ring sending Oliver a toothy smile, which he can’t help but return, “what?”

 

“That wife of yours.” Tommy remarks with a smirk, “after she threw an egg at you I thought for sure there would be blood shed next, but the two of you seemed to have fallen back into this well oiled machine. It’s almost like we’re back in college and you two are cleaning up all the games, and taking all the fun out for the others...minus the inappropriate kissing that is...”

 

“I did not spike her drink.” Oliver grumbles, “we just came to an understanding.”

 

“You finally realized that angering her is not the way to get her to listen to you?” Tommy remarks sarcastically.

 

“Not that it’s any of your business, but  we decided to put things aside and just focus on winning back the trophy.” Oliver folds his arms over his chest, annoyed that Tommy was able to figure that out before Oliver, himself could.

 

They didn’t actually verbalize this instead both he and Felicity just came to a silent agreement and with every race they did they completely blew away the competition and falling back into old habits. 

 

Now that they are waiting for the results and Oliver has a some time to himself to think about things and he knows he’s venturing down a slippery slope with Felicity. He promised himself that he will  _ finally  _ have that conversation they should have had years ago. He still can’t wrap his mind around the fact that Felicity bought a ticket to fly to New York last year  _ four _ years after they last spoke.

 

“And now what?” Tommy inquires, “something clearly happened after the two of you disappeared earlier there was just this  _ shift _ between the two of you when you got back. You didn’t sleep with her did you? Cause Ollie, you aren’t that guy. You’ve  _ never _ been that guy.”

 

“I thought you wanted me to work things out with her?” Oliver growls more angry that Tommy would even insinuate that he would do such a think.

 

“I want the two of you two to  _ finally _ lay your past to rest.” Tommy corrects. “I want you two to be happy however and whoever that may be, but Ollie if you are even having a fleeting thought about working things out with Felicity you need to end it with this other girl. I don’t know her but she doesn’t deserve that neither woman does, and you know that. Anyway I’ve gotta check on McKayla, think about what I said.”

 

Oliver only huffs in annoyance when his childhood friend walks away. Between the two of them  _ Tommy  _ was that guy. Oliver dated Felicity his entire life while Tommy jumped from one girl to the next all through high school and college. The fact that at almost thirty Tommy is married with two kids and Oliver is still clinging onto his past while he forcibly tries to make a future is not lost to him. 

 

“There you are!” Oliver looks up to see his mother making her way towards him, “Shouldn’t you be with Felicity, waiting for them to announce the winners? The two of you did not fall out again did you?”

 

Oliver rolls his eyes at his mother’s tone, he can see the look in her eyes and he knows exactly where this is going, “Why didn’t you tell me Felicity was bought a ticket to New York?”

 

Moira stops at Oliver’s abrupt change in topic, he probably should not have sound so accusingly, but he’s been going this over his head for the past few hours, “When you came to stay with me, you never once told me that Felicity was going to come.”

 

“I was hoping that she would have showed up, on her own and that you two would talk about things.” Moria says seriously, “I also noticed that McKenna girl was not around af all the entire week I was staying with you or when you were in the hospital.”

 

“We were on a break back then.” Oliver supplies, his mother doesn’t need to know that they had a fight about Oliver’s inability to fully commit to their relationship and not wanting to introduce McKenna to his family

 

His mother only hums in acknowledgment but does not say anything else but Oliver can practically feel the judgment radiating from her, “you should have told me about Felicity.” 

 

“Both you and Felicity always tell Donna and I to stay out of your relationship.” Moira points out hotly, “so I respected that and chose not to tell you Felicity got all the way to the gate and never got on that damn plane. Why are the two of you so stubborn? You’ve wasted so many years of your life over this and now you’re still dancing around it. They two of you need to talk things out. Figure something out you aren’t children anymore and these games are tiring.” 

 

“Hey woah? Where is all of this coming from?” Oliver asks with confusion not expecting  _ those  _ scathing words from his mother. 

 

“I’ve stayed quiet for too long.” Oliver could argue against that but he suspects his mother is on a roll and more importantly she would not appreciate his snark, “it’s been over a year since I’ve seen you, and the only reason I did was because you ended up in a  _ coma.  _ Once Felicity signs those papers is that it? Is it that she gets  _ Starling _ and I never see you again? You get what you want and then that’s it? I don’t see you again maybe for your wedding to this girl I never met? Will have grandchild I’ll never get to know?”

 

The last comment comes like a soccer punch to the gut for Oliver and his mother knows she hits a nerve almost immediate, her entire demeanour softens and she takes a step towards him, “honey, I know what you and Felicity went through is the worst thing any person could experience. I wouldn’t wish something like that on my worst enemy. I know it changed you, the both of you. It’s been seven years but I can see it on both your faces, the way each of you watch the West-Merlyn kids. Felicity may have adopted a more colourful persona, the bright coloured clothes the blonde hair, those glasses but it does not  hide what she’s been through anymore than it hides  _ your _ own pain. I know being back here is hard for you, I know that honey, trust me I do. But, you need to stop running, stop hiding and face your demons.”

 

Oliver goes to protest but his mother is on a role and her next words has his biting the inside of his cheek to prevent the tears from coming, “have you been to the cemetery?”

 

“Mom...I can’t…” Oliver pleads painfully, his mother grip tightens around his hand.

 

“I know.” She says in soft understanding, “but you should. You should go with Felicity.”

 

Oliver’s heart tugs at her words as she continues, “I know the last time you were here the two of you lost yourselves in each other and the alcohol to ignore the pain of facing your past, but I think it’s time now. I think it’s time you finally say goodbye.”

 

He wants to yell, to tell her she’s wrong, tell her it’s none of her business how he deals with his pain. But, she’s his mother and more importantly she’s not wrong, without outright saying it, she’s pinpointing the exact reason why Oliver has been avoiding this entire  _ town.  _ All these years. 

 

“I don’t know if I can.” Oliver confesses.

 

“I know.” Moira conceded pulling Oliver into a hug, “but you owe it to yourself to try...talk to Felicity ask her to go with you. She would really appreciate you going  _ with _ her.”

 

Oliver takes  deep breath and exhales through his mouth trying to ease his beating heart as he pulls away. He has questions about his mother’s last statement but he knows she is not the one he should be asking them. “I’ll try.”

 

“That’s all I want for you.” Moira says raising on her toes to press a kiss to her son cheek, “I just want you to finally move on, be it with Felicity or not.”

 

“But you would prefer if it was with Felicity.” Oliver says trying to infuse some lightness into the tense mood.

 

His mother only smiles in acknowledgment, “divorce or not, queen or Smoak, Felicity will always be my second daughter.”

 

Oliver nods in understanding just as Barry Allen’s voice echoes over the PA system that they will be announcing the winners in 10 minutes. 

 

“You should go.” Moira says gesturing  across to the judges area. “Just remember what I said okay?”

 

Oliver nods in acknowledgment unable to say more, he walks towards Felicity his mind whirling over his mother’s words 

 

* * *

 

“There you are!” Felicity exclaims, her cheeks are pink and she’s smiling widely, the fact that it’s direct towards him can only mean she was able to weasel her way by the judges table and found out the winners. “I thought I was going to have to send out a search party for you.”

 

“I was just with my mom.” Oliver explains, he can’t help but smile when Felicity bounces on her feet, “let me guess you promised old lady Wheeler That you’ll fix her tv again and she told you that we won?”

 

“Shh.” Felicity hisses looking around them, but no one is paying any attention to either of them, which is a nice change for once. She then grins widely, “but  _ yes.  _ Totally destroyed the competition! Yay team!”

 

She raises her hand for a high five and her excitement is almost contagious Oliver finds himself laughing with her and giving her the high five. 

 

She then seems to catch herself and her mood is somewhat subdue. They stand next to each other in awkward silence, something that just never happens between them.

 

Oliver contemplated bringing up what his mother  _ and _ Tommy both brought up, but he looks across at Felicity her hands clasps as she bounces in her spot the happiness  _ radiating  _ off of her and he just doesn’t think it’s the time or place to bring up some painful memories. He makes it a mental note to bring it up tonight once the are both back in the privacy of their home.

 

“Oliver!”

 

Oliver jumps in surprise, the insistent tugging of his arm pulling him out of his thoughts.

 

“Weren’t  you listening?” Felicity remarks dryly her small frame still trying to tug Oliver’s much larger frame towards the judges, “I still can’t believe this is all muscle.”

 

She’s muttering to herself as Oliver allows her to pull him along to the judges stand. He smirks at her comment, when she looks back at him almost as though she  _ knew _ he was smirking at her, her eyes narrow at him, “shut up.” 

 

Oliver raises one hand in the defense, his other arm Felicity still has in a death grip, “I didn’t say anything.”

 

“I was  _ not _ flirting with you.” Felicity insists, “you helping me win this trophy does not change anything  between us or how I feel.”

 

“Never thought differently.” Oliver promises, but with a smile is still on his face despite the way his heart clenches at her words.

 

Felicity narrows her eyes in thought but then as they call out their names to collect their trophy she grabs Oliver by the hand her excited grin returning. Oliver can see the way crowd zeros in on their clasps hands. Felicity though is none the wiser, her eyes more focused on the trophy, her fingernails dig into Oliver’s palm and  Oliver knows she is just waiting for Cisco who is announcing the winners, to hand over the trophy. 

 

The entire scenario, the loud chatter, the kids screaming, Felicity excited bouncing, her tight grip on his hand, if Oliver were to close eyes he would think he is 10 years in the past, with Felicity at his side, with their matching platinum rings both eager to celebrate their traditional win of wings and burgers with at Al’s diner and then the one enjoyable part in the privacy of their home. Or out in the patio.

 

But when they move to accept he trophy, Felicity releases her hold on his hand,  and Oliver hates that he misses the warmth of her hands. They both grab the trophy raising it as high as Felicity can hold it. Both grinning as the crowd cheers. 

 

Oliver looks out into the small crowd his smile widening as he takes in all the familiar faces. It’s been so long that he’s been surrounded by a group of people where he knows every single person by name. That he’s probably had conversation or brief interaction with every single person. He knows that the smiles on their faces are genuine and they really are happy for Oliver and Felicity. This little town takes this entire completion so seriously, Oliver has forgotten what it’s like to be surrounded by people who care about him. 

 

After everyone has dispersed and all the pictures have been taken Oliver finds himself alone with Felicity for the first since the egg incident.

 

“Al’s for wings later?” Oliver asks Felicity with an ease and familiarity that he finds himself going to. His hand resting on her shoulder to gain her attention. It’s not until her eyes widen in alarm he remembers that they  _ aren’t  _ at that place anymore. He can see that she’s ready to protest but he quickly continues, “we can go with our moms and Iris and Tommy.”

 

He can see Felicity is torn, unsure if she wants to take him up on his offer and Oliver hates that they have gotten to this point where she does not even want to have a meal with him. 

 

How did they lose each other this badly?

 

“It doesn’t mean anything.” He echoes  her words from early, despite the fact that it makes his stomach clench in pain at the thought. “It’s a Smoak-Queen tradition right? Pretty sure Al’s is gonna be expecting us, and he’ll make those triple cheese burgers just the way you like it.”

 

“Okay, fine.” Felicity groans at the thought, rubbing her stomach thoughtfully, “for the record I am only going for the burger not cause you asked.”

 

“It’s okay you’ve always chosen food over me for as long as I can remember. I don’t expect that to change now.” Oliver teases, trying to defuse the tension between them yet again.

 

“That’s not true!” Felicity protests, but Oliver can tell there is no bite to her words and he can see the small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “I can name a bunch of times when I chose you over food. I’m not an animal.  Your mother’s wedding being the most recent.”

 

Oliver’s breath catches in his throat at her words he was not expecting her to mention that night again, not after their last fight about it. 

 

Yet another thing they need to discuss.

 

Instead of focusing on how that weekend ended he focusing on their conversation at hand and smirks down at Felicity, “if I remember correctly you had us steal two plates filled with food before we ran off.”

 

He grins when Felicity’s cheeks pink up at the memory, she takes a step towards him her voice lowering, and Oliver feels his pants tightening almost the moment she speaks. “I seem to remember someone pulling me away before the appetizers were served  _ and _ I worked up an appetite that was  _ entirely _ your fault.”

  
“Felicity.” Oliver’s voice is low as he says her name, Felicity is about to take a step towards him but she catches herself and takes a giant step back shaking her head repeatedly. “I can’t do this with you again, Oliver. I  _ won’t.”  _


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter has mentions of stillbirth. 
> 
> This chapter was a hard one to write, it was always part of the plan, but it was still the most difficult chapter of a fic I've ever written.
> 
> On the brightside this is the turning point for the fic I think and it will be brighter with a little bit more angst

**Winter 2010**

 

_ Rah rah ah-ah-ah!  _

_ Ro mah ro-mah-mah  _

_ Gaga oh-la-la!  _

 

The moment the song comes on Felicity squeals, her socks skidding against the hardwood floor as she begins to dance, her fingers tapping her enlarged stomach to the beat of the song. She continues to dance in the middle of the kitchen, singing loudly and completely off tune.  She dips her spoon into the half empty jar of nutella scooping out a considerable amount and then moans softly when she pops it in her mouth.

 

“This is just between me and your E.T.” She says to her stomach,rubbing small circles on her belly. She giggles when she feels a firm kick against her hand, “Yea I know your dad would hate that I’m still calling your E.T.  _ That _ will definitely be our little secret. Right, Ethan? You and I won’t tell Daddy that he’s silly for not liking the cutest nickname  _ ever.” _

 

She’s been doing this a lot lately, talking to her unborn child, endless hours of rambling about any and everything. Her mother says it’s totally normal that  _ she _ use to do it with Felicity all the time. That alone has Felicity slightly worried, but it still hasn’t stopped her. She enjoys talking to her son it makes her all that more excited for the day she can look into his little round face when she talks to him. 

 

Four more weeks and she’ll  _ finally  _ get to meet their son, Felicity has never been an impatient person and these past 9 months just proved just how very little patience she does have. It’s why Oliver surprises her when it comes to celebrating her birthdays or anniversaries, if she ever finds out he’s planning something way in advance she is almost always able to break him either by just annoying him or the much more enjoyable way of seducing it out of him. 

 

Her music is suddenly cut off and the Skype tone chimes loudly throughout the kitchen. She grins widely rubbing her stomach, “speaking of your silly father.”

 

“Hello sunshine.” Felicity chimes as Oliver’s pixelated face appears on the screen. Despite the poor video quality she can see the frown etched on his face, “what’s wrong?”

 

“Some snow squalls around the area, flight got delayed by two hours. I’m hoping the wind settles enough so we can just leave.” Oliver says with a sigh.

 

“Hey, it’s okay at least you aren’t stuck there another day.” Felicity counters. She rubs her enlarged stomach and smiles at him warmly, “E. T. and I can hold down the fort till you come home to us.”

 

“Felicity, don’t call our son an alien.” Oliver counters weakly, she can see the smile already tugging on his lips, it’s an argument they have been having for months ever since they decided on the name Ethan Thomas for their son.

 

“Not an alien, I told you if you were going to name our son after your idiotic best friend because of an equally asinine bet that  _ you _ lost then I will call him E.T.” Felicity responses easily as she rubs circles along her stomach. Truth be told she has nothing against Oliver naming their son after Tommy, it’s everything that led up to the naming that she takes issue with.  

 

The only reason she got full reign on their son’s first name without  _ any _ input from Oliver is because he convinces her that his football team would win the Super Bowl. Turns out her husband was completely wrong and thus  _ Tommy _ was given the privilege of choosing their son’s middle name. 

 

She’s also not stupid, she knows fully well her husband promised his best friend something else that he refuses to admit to and that’s why they have  _ Thomas  _ to begin with. She’s just grateful he didn’t suggest  _ his _ last name as a middle name, Tommy is that narcissistic to do it and he knows it would piss her off. 

 

The E.T. nickname started off as a nickname to piss Oliver off but not she’s quite fond of it and she’s not sure she will stop calling their son that when he is finally born. 

 

“How are my two favourite people doing?” Oliver’s voice is full of static and she almost does not make out what he says.

 

“We’re both excited for you to come back home.” Felicity says with a slight pout. She knows it’s not Oliver’s fault that his plane was delayed but he was suppose to be already on his way home. “What time do you think you’ll get in?”

 

“By this evening , if things clear up I should be home by 8 or so. The drive to Starling shouldn’t take to long once they’be cleared the roads.”

 

Felicity looks out the kitchen window and frowns, “well there are some flurries but I don’t think it will get any worse than it is right now. I should go and  get those cupcakes before it does get worse.”

 

“Felicity, no!” Oliver protests immediately and she knew she should have omitted the last part.

 

“Oliver, I’m going to Lena’s for cupcakes. She even has my order and ready to pick up, we do this every month.” Felicity protests. “It’ll be too late when you get in.”

 

“We can take the 8 month photo tomorrow, Felicity. I don’t like the idea of you and E.T. Going out there in this weather for a cupcake.”

 

Felicity narrows her eyes at him, “don’t think you can butter me up by calling the baby E.T. I’ll take me ten minutes tops. I promise.”

 

“Felicity, I’m asking you to  _ please _ not go.” Oliver all but pleads with her.

 

“Alright.” Felicity rolls her eyes  knowing how overprotective he’s been lately especially as this has been one of the worst winters Starling has ever seen. 

 

“I’ll bring you a Cronut.” Oliver offers in exasperation and she’s not at all surprised he knows the reason for her wanting to go for the cupcakes. Her sweet tooth cravings during this pregnancy has been insane.

 

“I love you.” She sighs in delight earning a soft laugh from her husband.

 

“To Pluto and back?”Oliver offers softly echoing their little saying. 

 

When they were seven Felicity declared she loved him all the way to Pluto and back because Pluto is the furthest planet away from earth. As they got older and that loved developed into more the saying just always stayed with them.

 

“To Pluto and back.” Felicity echos soft smile on her lips

 

After their goodbyes, Felicity finishes off the last of the Nutella jar the toast she was originally making bare and abandoned when the cravings hit. She takes one look outside and sees the small white flurries slowly floating down and makes a rash decision.

 

Besides what Oliver doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

 

* * *

 

Oliver runs through the hospital hallways skidding to a halt in front of  the nurses station. His eyes are wild and red rimmed, melted snow is dripping down his face a large puddle forming around him. 

 

“Where is she?” Oliver gasps out as he grasps the counter his knuckles turning white.

 

The nurse at the station is Kara Danvers, an old high school friend of Oliver’s looks at him sadly and the moment she says his name her voice full of remorse, he breaks.

 

“Felicity is okay, she has a mild concussion and a broken wrist.” Kara says soothingly but it’s glaringly obvious what she’s  _ not _ saying and Oliver heart clenches.

 

“Ethan?” Oliver’s voice is hoarse, broken as he utters his sons name. Kara doesn’t even have to ask she just subtly shakes her head and Oliver moans out in pain. 

 

Not their son.

 

His physically aching, he needs to see Felicity, “where’s Felicity?”

 

“She’s in room 2541. They are prepping her for deliver.” Kara explains, at the word delivery a small fraction of hope blossoms deep in Oliver chest but when Kara shakes his head his world shatters all over again. “We need to induce...she has to deliver…”

 

But Oliver cuts her off not wanting to here her reduce his  _ son  _ to some medical terminology, “can I see her?”

 

Kara only nods  and points him in the direction of the delivery room. 

 

The walk towards the delivery is nothing like what Oliver imagined these past few months. His body feels numb, the load that’s been sitting on his chest since he got that call only increases with every step he takes.

 

He stands outside the room peering into the small window, his heart chattering when he sees Felicity lying in the hospital bed her arms cradled around her stomach as she cries. 

 

The moment he walks into that room, everything becomes real. He doesn’t know if he can do it.

 

Almost as though sense his presence Felicity suddenly looks up, her eyes bloodshot. The moment their eyes meet a new wave of fresh tears begin to gather and Oliver resolve breaks and he’s quickly making way towards Felicity, his own tears flowing freely.

 

“Oliver.” Felicity chokes out his name between her sobs, “Oliver... _ Ethan.” _

 

Oliver side steps all the various wires and IVs and slides into the small hospital bed engulfing his broken wife into his arms. 

 

Felicity’s sobs echo around the small room as Oliver de rubs his back unable to offer her words of comfort when he can’t even utter it for himself.

 

Felicity curls into him, her hand with her cast resting between them. She takes one of his hands her fingers squeezing it tightly before she rests their hands on her stomach.

 

Oliver chokes out his own sob as he rests his hand flat on her stomach, his heart sinking when he knows the all too familiar thump against his hand will not happen, no matter how much he wishes he could just  _ will _ their son to kick.

 

“Felicity.” He gasps out before he breaks down into tears, Felicity curling herself around him as they both cry.

 

It was not supposed to be like this. They have a nursery, car seats.  _ Everything  _  is sitting in their home, the home designed with their son  _ specifically  _ in mind. 

 

How are they suppose to leave these hospital walls  _ without  _ their son.

 

After a few minutes there is a soft knock on the door and Felicity OBGYN Dr. Sara Lance walks tentatively into the room her face full of sorrow. “Felicity, it’s time. We were able to wait for Oliver to arrive, but I’m sorry we can’t wait any longer before…”

 

“My dead child  _ kills _ me?” Felicity spits out angrily.

 

Dr. Lance says nothing in response they all know there is nothing she  _ can _ say. 

 

Oliver licks the salty tears on his lips as he tries to process the discussion they are currently having a discussion he never thought they would  _ ever _ have to have. 

 

Felicity turns to him her lip trembling and it’s taking everything in him to not start to cry on seeing the new fresh tears gathering in her eyes, “I can’t say goodbye.”

 

“I know.” He chokes out, grasping her hands tightly, “but we have to. We have to say goodbye to our son.”

 

Felicity only shakes her head back and forth, taking his hands with hers to clutch her stomach protectively murmuring softly to herself.

 

“Felicity.” Oliver pleads tugging on her hand to get her attention, “Felicity, I can’t lose you too.”

 

Felicity sobs out his name her entire body wracked with tears as she clings to him. Oliver looks over her shoulder at their doctor who has tears gathering in her eyes and he gives her a subtle nod to begin with the procedure.

 

It was time for them to let go of their son.

 

* * *

 

_ Present day _

 

After the almost kiss with Oliver, they both avoided each other, their small dinner with their mothers and the Merlyn-West clan turned into a small town event.  All the families that took part in the events were treated to free dinner at Al’s so practically the entire small town of Starling was stuffed both inside Al’s tiny dinner and their patio. It was the easiest form of avoidance that they didn’t even have to try. When Felicity was ready to head in for the night, Oliver has already disappeared, her mother letting her know that he offered to walk his mother home. The Queen-Steel farm being on the outskirts of Starling, meant either Moira drove into the city or she and Walter would walk during the summer.

 

Despite her better judgement, Felicity stayed up that night waiting for Oliver to get home, but he never did.  She figured that he was giving her space she not so subtly asked for, but part of her was upset that once again something happened between them and his first instinct was to run. 

 

This time as she nursed a bottle of wine, the divorces papers on her lap taunting her.  She contemplated the last 15 years of their relationship all the things that went right and all the many many things that went wrong. In the end every time she thinks about Oliver buying a ring meant for someone else, she knows what she has to do and with a bottle of their best wines (a gift from her estranged father for their wedding) and eyes full of tears she signs those papers.

 

She fell asleep curled up on her side of the bed, tear stained and exhausted. 

 

When she woke up, the house was characteristically quiet, Oliver clearly did not come home the night before. With a deep sigh she sent a text to Curtis telling him she is taking the day off and then turns off her phone. She’s only ever done the radio silence once before, the same time every year. Except she’s is about six months earlier or later depending how you look at it.

 

She slips into her favourite bikini and dives into the still lake, the best way to clear her head. 

 

After a few laps across the distance of their land, Felicity pulls herself onto the the deck with practice ease, water splashing as her feet kick against the water. She plops back onto her towel, groaning softly in pain. She forgot how taxing these games are on her body, especially  when playing alongside Oliver who is built like a tree the added hangover does not help either. At the thought of her husband... _ ex-husband... _ Felicity heart clenches and her eyes begin to gather with tears, she signed the papers over 10 hours ago. She left them next to the coat rack at the front door, with a heavy heart she made her way to the backyard diving into the lake to clear her mind after 15 years she still can’t believe she signed away the last bit of connection that held her to Oliver.

 

She tilts her head back and looks up at the sky, the sun is just barely peeking over the mountains in the horizon  dawn fastly approaching . 

 

She sighs loudly, knowing that she should not feel sorry for herself. She had to have known after all this time this would have been the endgame for them. She had not seen Oliver in over five years, she was naive to think he would have waited around, much like she had subconsciously done for him. 

 

“Hey.” A familiar voice calls out surprising her.

 

She squints up at Oliver, whose tall frame casts a shadow over her, despite this she can see the way he continues to shift on his feet until he sighs and takes a seat next to her. 

 

“I’m sorry.” He confession comes as such a  surprise to her, she sits up so that they can look each other in the eye. 

 

She rests her elbow on her knees and looks at him expectantly. 

 

“I’m sorry.” He repeats, “for yesterday, I shouldn’t have done that….flirted with you...with us flirting has always been second nature and I shouldn’t have done that.”

 

“Yea, wouldn’t want your  _ fiancé  _ to find out”. Felicity remarks with more bitterness than she intends her tone making Oliver falter slightly.

 

“You deserve more respect than that.” Oliver says not denying her comment either, “you and I we always fall back into bad habits and I know I play a large part of it too. So I’m sorry.”

 

“It takes two to tango, Oliver.” Felicity counters with a soft sigh, “we’re both responsible for what’s happened in the past. That pattern we always fall back into, it’s on me just as much as it is me. It’s ingrained into our systems like a default setting of a program, soon as anything goes go wrong we reset to our defaults.”

 

She breaks down her words for him to understand without waiting for him to ask, basically proving her point. It’s what happens when you’ve known each other since you were in diapers, certain actions and more importantly reactions occur before either of them could even contemplate thinking otherwise.

 

“We’ve been through a lot haven’t we?” Oliver says thoughtfully.

 

“More than anyone in any lifetime.” Felicity says thoughtfully her fingers automatically going to the simple gold necklace around her neck. Her thumb runs against the small amethyst stone sparkling in the sunlight.

 

“You still kept that.” Oliver says in awe, he reaches out to touch it but thinks better of it and places his clenched fists at his side.

 

“It’s the only thing of Ethan’s I have.” Felicity says softly, her voice slightly  hitched, “the only thing I couldn’t part with.”

 

They lapse into a moment of silence, each of them lost in their thoughts, 

 

“I’m sorry I left that day.” Oliver says softly, Felicity’s heart clenching at the exact day he’s referring to, not the day he left completely, but probably the day that was the beginning of the end for them, “at the cemetery. I’m sorry I left you alone and disappeared for a few days. I know you said it was okay when I got back, but it wasn’t Felicity. I wasn’t okay for me to just get up in the middle of the ceremony and just leave...just leave  _ you _ like that.”

 

“You were hurting.” Felicity offers weakly, her eyes beginning to fill with tears as memories of that day begin to resurface again. She’d force herself long ago to stop thinking about that day, They day she truly felt like she said goodbye to not just her son but her family as well.  _ Their _ family. 

 

“So were you.” Oliver all but growls angrily, but she knows it’s not directed at her. “So were you. I  _ couldn’t  _ say goodbye, but that doesn’t excuse me for leaving you like that.”

 

“I was angry at you...for leaving.” Felicity confesses quietly, her eyes trained on her bright pink coloured toes. “But then when you showed up...I thought we would mourn together, miss him together but things...well you know how things ended… I’m sorry too I should have tried harder...try harder for both of us.”

 

“We both should have.” Oliver says seriously, he rubs his face tiredly it’s only 9:00 am in the morning but he feels like he hasn’t slept for days. “I think things have always been easy for the two of us and we took it for granted.”

 

His words surprise her so much so Felicity finally looks across at him in confusion, “Before everything that happened, we had not gone a day without talking to each other, even when we fought. We  were just always part of each others lives and I think we took it for granted, that we assumed that would always be the case...I know I did. I think some part me thought with time, things would just work out for us...I was wrong.”

 

“I think  we both did.” Felicity sighs softly her heart heavy as she speaks “we always seemed to make our way back to each other...I guess it was not enough.”

 

She looks down at the green waters in the distance, the way the water gently crashes against the side of their deck, Oliver and Tommy had spent months building this wooden deck together.  She can’t find it in her to look over Oliver, unable to see his crestfallen expression. 

 

“Maybe it’s for the best.” Felicity says quietly, her voice catching in her throat, “Maybe it’s time we finally close the book that is Oliver and Felicity.

 

“Felicity…” Oliver starts, but she doesn’t want to hear any more apologies or talks about what ifs. She wipes away her tears, angry at herself for not being stronger, shaking her head, just as a car horn pulls both of their attention.

 

“Oliver!” A tall slim unfamiliar woman jumps out of the car, making a beeline for them, and at Oliver’s surprised expression, Felicity knows exactly who it is.

 

“I hope you’re happy, Oliver.” Felicity says softly as she rises to her feet, “That’s all I ever wanted for you….I left the papers next to the coat rack for you.”

 

“Felicity.” 

 

Oliver protests again, but Felicity doesn’t think she’s ready to smile and make nice with the woman that Oliver is going to marry. She ignores his calls and dives into the lake, hoping that Oliver will take the hint and disappear before she gets back.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Jo, C, Jess, Denise and Esther who never gave up on this fic even when I was ready to give up on it

“So is that her?” McKenna asks her chin pointing in the direction where Felicity disappears under the water yet again swimming further and further away from the pier, “Is that your  _ wife?” _

_ “ _ McKenna.” Oliver starts taking a step to reach towards her but McKenna only takes a step away from him, her eyes blazing.

“You know I figured you had some kind of secret, you’ve always been so hot and cold when it came to our relationship.  Half the time I always felt like you were more out than in, we took so many breaks over the past two years  _ because _ you refused to commit. But then, when I saw you with that ring I thought  _ finally _ you were ready commit, but I was stupid to think that ring meant that you would  _ finally  _ open up about why you were so afraid of commitment all this time. When you told me you had to come home to sort out somethings, I figured I’d give you some time,  time that you  _ clearly _ didn’t deserve….that mate just maybe you would  _ finally  _ come to me about it. But almost a  _ week _ passes and I barely spoke to you I decided to take matters into my own hands….and that’s when I found out you had a  _ wife _ you didn’t tell me about.”

“You went through my things?” Oliver asks incredulously, despite the fact that he knows it’s the  _ last _ thing he should focus on.

McKenna only scoffs in return, “were you even going to tell me about her? Or were you just coming here to see if she wanted you back and then just ghost me?”

“I came for a  _ divorce _ .” Oliver says exasperated, “so that I can marry  _ you _ . Felicity and I haven’t been together in over 7 years.”

“Why couldn’t you have just told me all this from the beginning?” McKenna’s voice is soft now the fight all but having left her, she just sounds exhausted at this point and Oliver feels like the worst personal in  the world. She deserves so much more than what he has to offer her.

She sighs in defeat when he remains silent, he’s unable to find the words that she wants to hear, “you were never going to tell me about her were you?”

“McKenna in order for us to have a future, I needed to close the door on my past once and for all.” It’s the most honest he’s been with her since she showed up, which should have been and indication for him on how this conversation was going to end.

“I wish I could believe you, Oliver.” McKenna she pulls a familiar folder from her handbag and slaps it hard against Oliver’s chest, “except you’ve had these papers for  _ five _ years and yet they remain untouched. You say you came here for her to sign these papers, but yet  _ your _ signature is nonexistent.  _ Five _ years Oliver and yet you never signed it.”

“McKenna.”

“No I don’t want to hear you excuses.” He thinks that she’s about to walk away that she’s done with it all, but then she pulls out a pen and offers it to him, “sign it.”

“What?” Oliver stutters it’s an ultimatum he knows it, they both do, even if he signed the papers it couldn’t possible erase all the lies that he’s told her. All the secrets he’s kept from her and is  _ still _ keeping from her.

“You heard me. Sign the papers prove to me that you really want this, want  _ us _ and we can go back home and start living our lives,together.”

“McKenna.”

McKenna only sighs, her eyes are bloodshot but she refuses to cry, her fingers clutching the strap of her handbag tightly, “I hope you’re happy Oliver. I hope  _ she _ is what you’ve always been looking for all these years.”

The worst thing about her little speech is that she says it with little malice and she  _ means _ it and the entire thing just makes Oliver feel like the worst person in the world. 

He watches and she spins on her heels jumps into her rental car  and it disappears over the horizon of the dirt road. He hears splashing behind him and sees Felicity far off in the distance as she cuts through the water with ease. She’s always been like a fish in the water. He clutches the unsigned documents to his chest and quickly makes his way towards the house. He sees the matching documents on the counter exactly where Felicity told him and he quickly swipes them off the counter and makes a beeline to his car. He casts one glance at Felicity his heart heavy just before he drives away.

 

* * *

 

“I’m here! I’m here!” Iris calls out as she enters the house, “the kids are with Tommy. I’m on best friend duty for the entire day.”

Iris trails off when she sees Felicity sitting on the sofa dressed in her rattiest oldest sweats and  Ollie snuggled up on her lap.

“Aw, honey what happened?”

“I signed the papers.” Felicity confesses releasing a loud sob, and it makes the rabbit jump in surprise, he scurries off her lap and under the sofa. “Everyone is leaving me!”

Iris though takes it with stride and holds up a large plastic bag and offers the large pizza box to Felicity, “I brought reinforcements.”

“I love you! You’ll never leave me right?” Felicity says pathetically as she takes the box, grabbing a slice of pizza, forgoing a plate or even a napkin.

“Oh boy, how much did you drink?” Iris asks worriedly.

“Only a little.” Felicity lies, her eyes glancing over at the empty bottle of wine.

“Well let’s get some food in you.” Iris responses sliding into the couch and placing the pizza box on her lap, “so you signed the papers?”

“I signed the papers.” Felicity repeats much more subdue now as she chews on her pizza, she sighs deeply, picking off a piece of pineapple and tossing it into her mouth, “it was time. I  _ know _ it was time. We both live such different lives on two different coasts for the past five years. Oliver is clearly ready to move on and so should I.”

“Except you tried doing just that and you never could.” Iris points out, no judgement in her tone but just stating what both she and Felicity already know. When  Felicity doesn’t comment Iris continues on, “I thought you were going to talk to him first?”

“I wanted to, but then we had a moment at the park and I...I got scared and I ran.” Felicity admits, “the last time Oliver and I had a moment like that we fell into bed together and had an amazing weekend and then he just  _ left _ I couldn’t go through that again.”

“Felicity, you can’t possibly know if that would happen again.” Iris protests squeezing Felicity’s knee in comfort. “He came all this way…”

“To ask me for a divorce to marry another woman.” Felicity counters wiping at her eyes angrily, some tomato sauce ending up on her cheek but she doesn’t care at this point. “I’m pretty sure his intentions were clear as day, I just chose to ignore it.”

“Oliver Queen is not my favourite person, we both know this but one thing the boy always got right was how much he loved you.  _ That _ he could never hide, he might have been able to fool all those people back in New York but the boy still looks at you like you hung the moon, the same exact expression he’s had since he was 12 years old. Those baby blues trailing after you with that lost puppy look, he  _ still _ does that felicity. I don’t know what he told you. But his expression says a different story.”

“Loving Oliver has always been the easy part.” Felicity says with a sigh, “it’s everything else that got in the way. Our egos, our pain, our anger.  _ Ethan _ . Maybe it was just too much.”

“If that’s what you think.” Iris starts off and Felicity knows that her best friend does not agree with this at all but respects Felicity’s choices nonetheless. 

“We talked about him.” Felicity admits softly, her pizza forgotten her heart clenching. “Ethan.”

Iris abandons her own pizza and tosses the box onto the coffee table moving closer to Felicity, “about…”

“Everything that happened...he apologized for leaving at the funeral.” Felicity eyes fill with tears, “said that he should have tried harder we both should have. We were both too consumed with grief, Oliver wanted to be anywhere but here and I couldn’t imagine leaving our son. It’s so stupid, he wanted to start over build a new life  _ together  _ but I couldn’t leave our  _ dead _ son. It’s not like Ethan was  _ here _ . I let Oliver just slip through my fingers then, and I did it all over again!”

“Felicity, we’ve been through this you can’t keep beating yourself over this. You were hurting, both you and Oliver were hurting so much, maybe it just wasn’t your time to be together, that time apart was good for you. Just don’t...don’t let history repeat itself.” 

Felicity looks up at her startled not expecting Iris to say that, Iris sighs, “honey I’ve watched you these past few years. You did all these amazing things, creating that prototype for that big name company I can pronounce, built up your own company with Curtis. You did all these amazing things, you tried to move on with Andrew, and I thought he was good for you I really did, but it’s nothing compared to when you are with Oliver. You came alive yesterday at the park, I haven’t seen you smile that much since Moira’s wedding. Sure you and Oliver argued half the time but there was a fire burning that I haven’t seen in so long. Oliver is it for you Felicity, he’s always been it for you and I can’t sit back and just let you throw that away again. Find Oliver and tear up those documents. Tell him you still love him.”

“His fiance showed up.”

Iris falters at Felicity’s comment, “did you meet her?”

“No. I jumped into the lake and swam away, by the time I came back they were both gone along with the  _ signed _ divorce papers.” Felicity sighs with defeat, “I guess I lost my chance, they are probably halfway back to New York planning some Central Park wedding.”

“Oh Felicity.” Iris says sympathetically, pulling Felicity into a hug, she then stretches to the floor and pulls out a large pint of mint chocolate chip. 

Felicity snorts between her sobs, “you really do love me.”

“You know you can’t ever get rid of me.” Iris promises, she holds out a spoon for Felicity and gives her a hopeful, “maybe now you can truly move on?”

Felicity shrugs the possibility of that never once crossing her mind, “I had 7 years to move on, and I never could, I guess I never will.”

 

* * *

 

“ _ And?” _

“And what?” Oliver snaps back at Tommy who is currently walking around the West-Merlyn kitchen baby Joey snug against his chest snoring softly as Tommy makes a snack for McKayla. 

“And why the…” Tommy puts his hands over the sleeping toddlers ears “why the fuck are you here telling me your sob story and not declaring your love to Felicity?”

“Did you not hear the part where she  _ signed _ the papers?” Oliver growls angrily, but mindful of the sleeping baby in Tommy’s arms.

“ _ Yes _ but did you not say that  _ you _ never signed the papers?” Tommy counters in exasperation. “The balls in your court Oliver.”

“How could it possibly be in my court? She signed the papers! She made her choice.”

“Only because you have been hounding her to sign the papers for  _ days _ .” Tommy sighs when Oliver remains silent, “Okay let’s start over. McKenna, that’s over for good?”

“She asked me to sign the papers and we’d start over with a clean slate, but I  _ couldn’t... _ There are so many things she doesn’t know besides just  _ Felicity _ .” Oliver rubs his face tiredly, just as Tommy puts a mug of coffee in front of him.

“Ethan for starters, honestly Oliver that was never going to work out if you couldn’t even tell her your full name.” Tommy raises his hand in defense when Oliver glares at him, but Oliver knows how right his friend is. He never even told McKenna his  _ full _ name.

“I couldn’t let her go, okay?” Oliver growls angrily, “is that what you wanted to hear? After all this time, after buying a ring for another woman I couldn’t I just couldn’t do it: I couldn’t get her out of my head.”

Tommy sighs at Oliver words, “you should really tell her that Oliver. You guys have lost so much time already.”

“That’s what everyone keeps saying.” Oliver grumbles, “just tell her how you feel, like if that will fix anything. Loving Felicity has never been a problem for me. If anything it was the  _ only _ thing that was right, the only thing I knew was a sure thing. I’ve loved her all my life Tommy I don’t know how to  _ not _ love her.”

“Dude you’re like a fucking hallmark movie. Of course it won’t fix all your problems for that to happen the two of you need to actually get your head out of your asses and talk to each other, but for what it’s worth? I think  _ telling _ her that you still love her is worth something.”

“Since when have you been so smart Merlyn?”

“That’s all on Iris. 8 years together would do that. I wouldn’t be half the man I am without her.” Tommy says honestly.

Oliver shakes his head smile widening, “and you call  _ me _ the hallmark card.”

Tommy grunts, flipping Oliver off in response, “I at least still have the girl, can you say the same thing?”

“Touché.”

“Oliver, what really happened at your Mother’s wedding? Last time I saw you, you and Felicity were all over each other, sharing a bottle of wine. I thought for sure the next day I’d see you two and everything would be back together. But that day we came to drop off the wedding invitations, you were nowhere in sight and Felicity was just  _ broken _ . I hadn’t seen her like that since Ethan...I’m not gonna lie, after that I was slightly glad you  _ did _ disappear not sure what I would have done to you, best friend or not.”

Oliver sighs, Tommy’s words bringing all the horrible memories associated with the days after his mother’s wedding“what did Felicity say?”

“Oliver, you know how she was weeks after Ethan, she barely spoke she took the week off of work and disappeared for a bit only Donna and your mom knew where she was. What the hell happened?”

“What always happens, we think we’re both on the same page, but turns out we aren’t even in the same book anymore.” Oliver says with a defeated sigh, he thinks about the signed documents sitting in his truck and sighs, “maybe now we are finally there. Finally ready to close  _ our _ book.”

“You don’t mean that,” Tommy says stubbornly.

“I think it’s obvious by now, Tommy. When it comes to Felicity and I, loving each other just isn’t enough.” Oliver sighs rubbing his face tiredly, “Maybe this was the final straw. Maybe I should just sign the papers and put an end to this 7 year dance we’ve been doing. Maybe part of me always held on hoping things would change over time and that’s why I couldn’t move on completely. Now that she signed the papers, I should just take that next step, move back to New York and finally try and move on, finally let go of her.”

“Is that what you want though?” Tommy asks handing Oliver a beer bottle, Oliver looks at it in surprise, “you looked like you needed something stronger.”

Took the cold bottle gratefully and takes a large sip, before he looks back at Tommy seriously, “I don’t want someone who doesn’t want me.”

Tommy sighs in exasperation, “Oliver how can you possibly know what Felicity wants if you refuse to tell her what  _ you _ want. The two of you always do this you assume you know what the other is thinking make the decisions for each other and then shit hits the fan and you wonder why. Take my advice, talk to her, lay it all out for her. Tell her you want a second chance, tell her you love her show her that you didn’t sign the papers. You had those things drawn up  _ twice  _ and yet you couldn’t sign them either time.”

Oliver pauses at Tommy’s words, “how did you know about that?”

Tommy only rolls his eyes, “women talk. Iris said you sent these papers to Felicity and didn’t even have the balls to sign it first, you wanted  _ Felicity  _ to make the first move. So Felicity tore up the papers and shipped them back to you. You always did this Oliver, you put the ball in Felicity’s court and when she makes the decision for the both of you, you get upset. Just fucking tell her how you feel already. This has been going on for far too long.”

“I didn’t….I didn’t realize you felt so strongly about all of this.” Oliver says sheepishly Tommy’s words ringing true, more than Oliver cares to admit.

“Oliver I’ve had a front row seat to the Oliver and Felicity show for over two decades, in fact I think the reason why Iris and I even ended up hitting it off after years of hating each other is cause we got tired of both of  _ you _ . So really we only have you and Felicity to thank for all of this.”

Tommy gestures at his house and then gently brushed Joey’s soft hair. Oliver glares at him a small part of him jealous of his best friend, “glad my pain was for your benefit.”

“Don’t be an asshole.” Tommy growls.

“Daddy! Money in the swear jar!” McKayla yells from the living room table in the adjacent room. 

“Ears like a hawk that one,” Tommy grumbles good naturally, he pulls out a few coins from his pants and moves to a large jar on the kitchen counter that already has a few dollar bills in it. The coins clink loudly in the jar and once McKayla yells back her thanks, Tommy turns back to face Oliver. “Go to Felicity, tell her how you feel. She deserves that much, you both do. You two have been together since you were in diapers. If you are going to walk away from this relationship you need to lay all your cars on the table. You two owe each other that much.”

Tommy is  _ right _ . He can’t just walk away from Felicity not again, he and Felicity have been walking away from each other for far too long. It’s time one of them fight for this relationship. It’s time  _ he _ fights for this relationship like he should have  _ years _ ago.

He needs to see Felicity. He has to talk to her.

He hands Tommy the beer bottle and turns on his heels without a word, he never did hear Tommy grumbling to himself about meddling wives.  
  



End file.
